80 Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



(1895) "On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jamaica," his conclusions 

 being that the skulls present decided characters pertaining to the 

 American type. His labours in this field are of great value, and some 

 of his papers treat of races that are disappearing or that have dis- 

 appeared, the materials for the study of which he was fortunate in 

 obtaining. Sir William was thoroughly interested in this field, and the 

 vigour with which he delivered the opening address to the Anthropo- 

 logical Section of the British Association at Oxford (1894) must have 

 struck all who heard it. 



His tenure of office, viz., twenty-two years, as Conservator of the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, was a splendid record of 

 original and laborious work, of great administrative capacity, and of 

 unvarying courtesy to visitors. The Museum was most popular under 

 his management. There, amidst the almost unrivalled collections, the 

 tall, fair-haired and earnest worker was daily to be found, minutely 

 studying, comparing and measuring, or giving directions for the exten- 

 sion, arrangement, and classification of the varied and valuable 

 contents. From a scientific point of view no post could have been 

 better adapted for the man or the man for the post. With many and 

 varied lines of study lying conveniently around him, in the quietude 

 of an office less conspicuous and exacting than that of the British 

 Museum, in the full vigour of manhood, and in the midst of sym- 

 pathetic seniors, friends, and assistants, it can well be imagined that 

 Sir William's powers attained great development, and that, perhaps, he 

 never felt so full of happiness and satisfaction with his original work. 

 It could not well be otherwise. His conscientious devotion to duty, 

 his remarkable skill in devising methods of mounting, his artistic eye,, 

 his tact with subordinates, and the esteem in which he was held by 

 zoologists and comparative anatomists at home and abroad, give a clue 

 to his subsequent career, and show the training of one of the most 

 accomplished and courtly comparative anatomists our country has 

 produced. 



Of his long-continued and conspicuous labours in the College 

 Museum little further need be said than to make a brief extract from 

 the minute of the Council on the 13th March, 1884 : 



" Moved by Sir James Paget, seconded by Mr. Erichsen, and resolved 

 unanimously : ' That the Council hereby desire to express to Mr. 

 William Henry Flower their deep regret at his resignation of the office 

 of Conservator of the Museum of the College. That they thank him 

 for the admirable care, judgment, and zeal with which for twenty-two 

 years he has fulfilled the various and responsible duties of that office, 

 that they are glad to acknowledge that the great increase of the 

 Museum during those years has been very largely due to his exertions, 

 and to the influence which he has exercised, not only on all who have 

 worked with him, but amongst all who have been desirous to promote 



