OWEN 87 



books, etc. He served on several public commissions, 

 received a civil list pension, and all the honours and dis- 

 tinctions usually awarded to men of science. Among 

 these may be mentioned that he was elected, on 25th April 

 1859, one of the eight foreign associates of the Acad&nie 

 des Sciences; and in 1884 Queen Victoria conferred a 

 K.C.B. He was also a chevalier of the orders: Pour 

 le Merite, Legion d'Honneur, Sts Maurice and Lazarus of 

 Italy, the Rose of Brazil and Leopold of Belgium. Owen 

 was also LL.D. of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and D.C.L. 

 of Oxford Universities ; and he received medals from the 

 Royal, Linnean, and Geological Societies, and the Royal 

 Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. He was an honorary 

 member of most of the learned academies and societies 

 of the world. In fact, few men of science have ever 

 received more numerous marks of distinction than Owen. 



In 1852 Queen Victoria had shown her respect by grant- 

 ing him Sheen Lodge, Richmond Park ; and there he lived 

 for the remainder of his long life. Owen resigned his 

 official post at the Natural History Museum in 1883, 

 at the age of seventy-nine. Although full of years, he 

 had lost little of his mental vigour, and he continued to 

 work in his retirement. 



To talk to Sir Richard Owen was to be struck by the 

 vastness of his knowledge, and "the noble dignity of his 

 personal character was in every way worthy of his fame." 

 To be in his company was to feel that one was in the 



