284 Biographical Notice of the late Dr. J. EK. Gray. 
its amount were less, and that the author had given himself 
more time for the full elaboration of the various subjects that 
he took up. In too many instances he hastened to put the 
results of his researches into shape before he had really com- 
pleted them ; hence further investigations led him to modify 
the views which he had expressed only a short time pre- 
viously, and thus two or three papers on the same subject, 
perhaps the classification of some tribe or family of animals, 
would follow each other in rapid succession. It would un- 
doubtedly have been better, both for zoology and for his own 
future fame, if the outcome of the same amount of study had 
been represented by half, or even a quarter, of the amount of 
literature which now stands in Dr. Gray’s name. But there 
is one labour of his from which no such deduction is to be 
made; and it is this especially that will carry his name down 
the stream of time. From his appointment as an Assistant in 
the British Museum until the close of his life, but more es- 
pecially since his having been made Keeper of the Natural- 
History Department, he devoted himself with unflagging 
energy to the development of the collection under his charge ; 
and mainly by his exertions it has grown from the rudimentary 
state in which it existed in the days of Dr. Leach, to the 
magnificent proportions which it has now attained. It is 
impossible to overrate the services rendered to zoology in this 
country by Dr. Gray in the accumulation of the fine series 
of specimens now possessed by the British Museum, and the 
excellent catalogues of several departments prepared by him 
or under his auspices. His knowledge of species and genera 
in those groups to which his attention was particularly directed 
was perhaps unrivalled; his great energy and administrative 
ability enabled him to carry out the business of his department 
in the face of difficulties and obstacles which few would have 
overcome. His great services in this respect met with more 
direct recognition abroad than in this country: in 1852 he 
received the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from 
the University of Munich ; and in 1860 the large Gold Medal 
of merit was conferred upon him by the King of Wiirttemberg, 
on his declining the offer of an order of knighthood which 
had been made to him. His merits were also acknowledged 
by many foreign Societies and Academies, which enrolled him 
in the lists of their honorary and corresponding members. 
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia paid him 
this honour as early as 1829 ; and he was subsequently elected 
to analogous positions by scientific bodies in Boston, Moscow, 
Rome, Paris, Darmstadt, Lyons, Turin, Strasbourg, Lund, 
and other places. He was also a Fellow or Member of 
nearly all the Natural-History Societies in London. 
