SKETCH OF LIFE AND WORK 17 



4. CONSERVATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE EDINBURGH 

 COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, 1831 TO 1841 " HISTORY 

 OF BRITISH BIRDS " AUDUBON. 



In 1831 he was unanimously chosen, without any 

 influence being sought or used on his behalf, from 

 amongst ten applicants for the position of Conservator 

 of the Museum of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons, 

 as successor to Dr. Knox ; and thus began the fourth 

 period of his life, which extended to 1841. The amount 

 of work done by him during that period was marvel- 

 lous, while on the results of it, and of the many years' 

 previous preparation, his fame as an ornithologist 

 mainly rests. 



During the ten years he occupied that position, his 

 duties to -the Museum were discharged with the most 

 conscientious care and with perfect scientific skill and 

 intelligence. His first year's work was especially 

 arduous and laborious, and it severely tested both his 

 physical and his mental powers. When he entered on 

 his duties on 17th September 1831, the numerous pre- 

 parations belonging to the College were partly in the 

 old museum in Surgeon Square and partly in two 

 other separate buildings ; while their condition and 

 arrangement were far from satisfactory. The existing 

 handsome building was just then being completed from 

 designs by Mr. Playfair, and it fell to MacGillivray to 

 see the contents of the old buildings removed to the 

 new one. He found the preparations in a very un- 



c 



