APPENDIX. ■ 37 



on comparing our lists found them to agree within £20 on the value of 

 the whole collection : 



4 



That Mr. Hawkins never professed that there were no restora- 

 tions of some defective portions of some of the skeletons ; on the contrary, 

 I was aware of what he had been doing : many of the specimens have 

 for three or four years past been under my observation, and I have often 

 remonstrated against a practice which I could not prevent. On more 

 careful examination of the specimens, I find the amount of these restora- 

 tions to be much less than I had supposed ; and were I again to value 

 the collection, I should fix a larger rather than a smaller price on it. 



5 



The principal restorations are in the largest specimen, which was 

 valued only at £200 or 200 guineas ; to obtain such a specimen in a per- 

 fect state is all but impossible. 



6 



There has been, therefore, neither fraud nor collusion on the part 

 of Mr. Hawkins, nor want of information on my part, as to the fact of 

 reparation and restoration of certain broken portions of the skeletons ; 

 and provided these restored parts be pointed out (as they assuredly ought 

 to be) by a different colour from the bones which they now resemble, no 

 one can possibly be deluded ; the specimens will be much more intelligible 

 to the unscientific observer than if the restorations had not been made. 



7 

 As erroneous statements have appeared in the papers respecting 

 this subject, you are welcome to make any use you think proper of this 

 communication. 



8 



Mr. Hawkins would have done well had he indicated the amount 

 of his restorations in his published plates; but this is a matter which 

 afi*ects the purchasers of his book, and not the Trustees of the Museum, 

 who, being in possession of the specimens, can so readily remedy the 

 existing evil by marking with a diflferent colour the restorations. 

 Believe me to be, my dear Sir, 



Always truly your's, 



W. BUCKLAND, 

 Rev. J. Forshall, &c. &c. 



If Dr. Buckland, when he sat down to write the above let- 

 ter, could have looked forward to the present action, had he 

 wished a verdict to be given in my favour, he could not have 

 strung together a set of propositions so ruinous to the cause 

 of Mr. Hawkins, as those which are contained in this epistle to 

 Mr. Forshall. Should the action come to trial, para- 

 graphs 2 and 3 of this letter supply the important admissions, 

 firsts that Mr. Hawkins offered to sell his collection without 

 naming a price, provided his friend Dr. Buckland might be 

 allowed to value it ; and, secondly, that two valuers being 

 appointed, both forai as nearly as possible the same estimate 



