54 



Director or Curator, who cannot possibly be an expert in all branches 

 of natural history. There are not uncommon fishes in the sea which 

 to any of the latter would appear as strange as, if not stranger than, 

 a Coelacanth. It was the energy and determination of Miss Latimer 

 which saved so much, and scientific workers have good cause to be 

 grateful. The genus Latimeria stands as my tribute. 



Meanwhile I was continuing my terrible struggle to do my 

 ordinary full-time University work and the detailed examination 

 of the Coelacanth. On the 19th April I wrote in answer to Miss 

 Latimer : 



The fish is a terrible job. I could work solidly on it for 6 months. 

 There will be over 50 plates alone and I cannot finish before June 

 at the earliest. ... I am hoping that I can send you the fish by the 

 end of May perhaps. 



On the 24th April came a telegram from the East London 

 Museum : 



'BOARD WISH FISH RETURN IMMEDIATELY 

 LETTER FOLLOWS.' 



That was a shock. The work was far from complete and I was 

 almost frantic. Miss Latimer's letter that followed explained that 

 since the tremendous effect the discovery had produced overseas 

 had been coming back to the Union, it had caused the public in 

 her area to clamour to see the fish again. There had been a 

 succession of people who had travelled long distances to East 

 London, and at the Museum they had been overwhelmed by 

 complaints at its absence, many from influential people. It did 

 not pacify them to be told that scientific work was being done on 

 the fish. They wanted to see it. What a primitive instinct it is to 

 stare at the unusual, but it does satisfy something. 



I telephoned Miss Latimer, and eventually we compromised. 

 I should return it on the 2nd May 1939. Where I had worked 

 intensely before, the time remaining was a frantic nightmare. In 

 the end I managed most of what I hoped, but not all. At the end of 

 this terrible strain it was mainly with a sense of relief that the 

 animal was handed over to its police escort. It arrived safely, and 

 apparently the Museum was thronged for days by eager sight- 

 seers, who pressed in closely all the time. This widespread local 



