RICHARD RATHBUN — BENJAMIlST. 527 
stantly being received, but on the death of Baird in 1887 Dr. G. 
Brown Goode, who succeeded temporarily to the office of Fish Com- 
missioner, persuaded Mr. Rathbun, in consequence of his long expe- 
rience and familiarity with the work, to remain with the commisv 
sion. Later, when Col. Marshall McDonald became permanent com- 
missioner, he was equally appreciative of Mr. Eathbun's valuable 
qualities and likewise was able to induce him to remain with the 
bureau until his own death in 1895. 
In 1896, on the invitation of Secretary Langley, he accepted ap- 
pointment in the Smithsonian Institution, and on January 1, 1897, 
began his duties as assistant in charge of olRce and exchanges. 
Before the expiration of the month his abilities were so manifest 
and his appreciation of the conditions so complete that he was made 
assistant secretary. This place he then held until July 1, 1898, when, 
still continuing as assistant secretary, he was given charge of the 
National Museum, in which capacity he remained until his death. 
It is almost impossible to attempt to consider in detail the many 
ramifications of the great work that he accomplished, and naturally 
the minor, but certainly not unimportant, interests are obscured by 
the larger events to which he gave the later years of his life. 
The most important of these was the construction of the new 
building, in which the natural history collections are preserved. His 
intense interest in this undertaking, as well as his remarkable ca- 
pacity for studying details, is perhaps best shown by his careful 
preliminary study " The United States National Museum : An 
Account of the Buildings Occupied by the National Collections," 
that appeared in the annual report of the United States National 
Museum for 1903.^ 
The years of patient watching and waiting for the completion of 
the structure, with his perfect knowledge of every detail, can never 
l)e satisfactorily told in words, but they are strikingly illustrated 
by the careful "Descriptive Account of the Natural History Build- 
ings of the United States National Museum " that forms No. 80 of 
the bulletin series,^ that he published in 1913 on the completion of 
the building. 
These two publications show how much he gave of himself to the 
perfection of a work that must always remain as the greatest monu- 
ment that can be reared to his painstaking genius. 
With an interest equal to that shown by him in the construction 
of the new Museum building, he undertook the development of the 
National Gallery of Art, an important feature of the Smithsonian 
Institution, which, although the one mentioned first in the funda- 
mental act, had remained dormant for lack of adequate facilities. 
8 Pp. 177-315, pis. 1-29. Pp. 1-131, with pis. 1-34. 
