﻿Frederick 
  Ducane 
  Godman. 
  

  

  111 
  

  

  this 
  journey 
  was 
  Godman's 
  first 
  essay 
  in 
  publication 
  and 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Ibis 
  ' 
  

   for 
  1861. 
  His 
  next 
  journey, 
  in 
  1861, 
  was 
  with 
  Salvin 
  to 
  Guatemala, 
  where 
  

   the 
  latter 
  had 
  already 
  made 
  large 
  collections 
  of 
  birds 
  and 
  plants 
  in 
  1857 
  and 
  

   1859, 
  their 
  object 
  being 
  to 
  investigate 
  the 
  problems 
  of 
  geographical 
  distribu- 
  

   tion 
  and 
  evolution, 
  in 
  which 
  Darwin's 
  ' 
  Origin 
  of 
  Species 
  ' 
  had 
  aroused 
  their 
  

   interest. 
  This 
  journey, 
  which 
  lasted 
  for 
  some 
  time, 
  took 
  them 
  through 
  many 
  

   remote 
  districts 
  then 
  hardly 
  known 
  to 
  travellers, 
  and 
  the 
  rich 
  collections 
  they 
  

   formed 
  were 
  the 
  nucleus 
  of 
  what 
  afterwards 
  became 
  the 
  most 
  complete 
  

   collection 
  of 
  birds, 
  mammals, 
  and 
  insects 
  ever 
  formed 
  in 
  Central 
  America, 
  of 
  

   which 
  I 
  shall 
  say 
  more 
  later. 
  In 
  1865 
  Godman, 
  accompanied 
  by 
  his 
  brother, 
  

   Capt. 
  Temple 
  Godman 
  and 
  an 
  entomologist, 
  visited 
  the 
  Azores, 
  to 
  investigate 
  

   the 
  fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  of 
  that 
  group 
  of 
  islands, 
  which 
  were 
  then 
  little 
  known 
  

   and 
  specially 
  interesting 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  light 
  which 
  they 
  throw 
  on 
  

   geographical 
  distribution. 
  He 
  visited 
  all 
  the 
  islands 
  except 
  Santa 
  Maria, 
  and 
  

   brought 
  back 
  a 
  large 
  collection, 
  which 
  he 
  afterwards 
  described 
  in 
  a 
  book 
  on 
  

   the 
  Azores, 
  published 
  in 
  1870. 
  

  

  In 
  1871 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  the 
  Canaries 
  and 
  Madeira 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  object, 
  and 
  

   published 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  this 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Ibis 
  ' 
  in 
  1872, 
  which 
  resulted 
  in 
  an 
  

   interesting 
  correspondence 
  with 
  Darwin.* 
  In 
  1876 
  he 
  and 
  Salvin 
  formed 
  

   the 
  idea 
  of 
  publishing 
  the 
  great 
  work 
  ' 
  Biologia 
  Centrali- 
  Americana,' 
  which 
  

   gradually 
  developed 
  into 
  the 
  largest 
  series 
  of 
  the 
  sort 
  that 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  

   privately 
  published 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  one 
  man, 
  and 
  which 
  occupied 
  the 
  

   authors 
  for 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  their 
  respective 
  lives. 
  The 
  collections 
  which 
  were 
  

   gradually 
  brought 
  together 
  for 
  this 
  work, 
  were 
  first 
  stored 
  in 
  Salvin's 
  house 
  

   in 
  London, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  Curator 
  of 
  the 
  Strickland 
  collection 
  

   of 
  birds 
  at 
  Cambridge, 
  Godman 
  took 
  a 
  house 
  in 
  Tenterden 
  Street, 
  where 
  until 
  

   1878 
  the 
  joint 
  museum 
  and 
  library 
  were 
  housed. 
  Here 
  the 
  late 
  Lord 
  Lilford, 
  

   President 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Ornithologists' 
  Union, 
  also 
  had 
  rooms, 
  and 
  the 
  house 
  

   became 
  a 
  centre 
  of 
  ornithological 
  society 
  and 
  fellowship. 
  Later 
  on, 
  the 
  

   collections 
  were 
  removed 
  to 
  Chandos 
  Street, 
  where 
  they 
  remained 
  till 
  after 
  

   Salvin's 
  death 
  in 
  1898. 
  The 
  two 
  friends 
  had 
  previously 
  determined 
  to 
  present 
  

   the 
  whole 
  of 
  their 
  collections 
  to 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  

   and, 
  with 
  his 
  usual 
  disinterestedness, 
  Godman 
  decided 
  that 
  they 
  should 
  

   be 
  incorporated 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Collection 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  worked 
  

   out. 
  For 
  this 
  purpose 
  he 
  employed 
  his 
  own 
  skilled 
  workers, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  

   of 
  his 
  death 
  the 
  great 
  task 
  of 
  incorporation 
  was 
  almost 
  concluded. 
  The 
  great 
  

   Henshaw 
  collection 
  of 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  was 
  added, 
  and 
  several 
  

   private 
  collectors 
  had 
  been 
  employed 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  in 
  various 
  localities 
  in 
  

   Mexico, 
  and 
  in 
  Central 
  and 
  South 
  America, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  material 
  was 
  

   enormous. 
  The 
  number 
  of 
  bird-skins 
  alone 
  eventually 
  handed 
  over, 
  amounted 
  

   to 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  520,000, 
  the 
  largest 
  single 
  donation 
  ever 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  Museum 
  

   of 
  Natural 
  History. 
  

  

  * 
  Probably 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  boulders 
  in 
  Tercho 
  Ste. 
  Maria 
  (see 
  ' 
  Origin 
  of 
  

   Species,' 
  p. 
  393), 
  Godman 
  maintaining 
  that 
  the 
  islands 
  were 
  volcanic 
  and 
  the 
  boulders 
  

   merely 
  ballast. 
  

  

  