78 Miscellaneous. 



were published by Sii- Evcrard in the Transactions of the Royal So- 

 ciety. The most remarkable of these were his dissections and draw- 

 ings of the common red earthworm, the lampreys, conger-eel, Mexi- 

 ca.n Proteus, metamorphosis of the tadpole, generations of oysters 

 and muscles, process of incubation from the e^^ to the perfect 

 chicken, the eye, structure of brain, nerves, blood, lungs, urethra, 

 and muscular fibre — some of which labours have led to great improve- 

 ments in the treatment of diseases, and consequent alleviation of hu- 

 man suffering ; and all display an unrivalled degree of skill, j^erse- 

 verance, and philosophical acumen, sufficient to have conferred on 

 him the highest fame, had such been his aim. At the suggestion of 

 Sir Everard Home, George the Fourth resolved to establish a Bota- 

 nical Museum at Kew, which v\'as to be entrusted to Mr. Bauer. 

 The house now belonging to the King of Hanover was purchased for 

 this purpose — the shelves were prepared — all the botanical books in 

 the King's library were to be removed there, and some had, in fact, 

 been sent down, when, unfortunately, a dispute arose respecting the 

 land, to which the Commission of Woods and Forests laid claim ; 

 and some artillery waggons driving off with the book-cases gave 

 Mr. Bauer the first intimation that the plan had been abandoned. 



About this ])eriod Mr. Bauer made his superb drawings of the 

 Rafftesia Arnold'd (the plant of which a model in wax is preserved at 

 the rooms of the Horticultural Society). He still continued his de- 

 lineations of Kew plants, and latterly, more especially of the ferns 

 published by Sir William Hooker. He, at the same time, directed 

 his attention to many microscopical researches — such as the struc- 

 ture of cotton, flax, and wool, the hairs of the various races of men, 

 as well as of many animals, the red snow of Sir John Ross; and, 

 though little known to the public, he had so well established his re- 

 putation amongst the select in every walk of science, that rarely in- 

 deed would any man of science or any traveller of eminence pass 

 through London without visiting him, and no one returned otherwise 

 than gratified and instructed. Of Mr. Bauer, indeed, it has been 

 truly said, " that nothing prevented his acquiring an extraordinary 

 degree of fame, except his remarkably unobtrusive modesty — he 

 worked rather for the credit of others than for his own." 



Mr. Bauer continued, up to a late period, his microscopic researches 

 and drawings ; but, unwilling to risk the chance of leaving any work 

 unfinished, he at last determined to rest, and to attempt no more. 

 Seated near his microscojie, which long use had made almost essen- 

 tial to his happiness, he spent his hours in re-examining what his 

 pencil had so admirably perpetuated, and reviewed, in the monuments 

 of his labour, the history of his life. His was, indeed, a life of in- 

 cessant activity and usefulness. The motives which stimulate com- 

 mon men never influenced him ! Vanity, selfishness and illiberality 

 were wholly foreign to his disposition ; and that his innocent labours 

 had spared him from all self-reproach and remorse, his serenity, his 

 cheerful resolve to abide his time in peace, and his final departure 

 from this world under circumstances the most consolatory, full of 

 resignation, faith and hope, and free from sufferings, save the in- 

 creasing debilities of old age, sufficiently prove. — Athenceum, No. 687. 



