CHAPTER XIV 



ANTHROPOLOGY 



From the time when Flower was appointed Con- 

 servator of the Hunterian Museum he had always 

 taken a keen interest in Anthropology — the natural 

 history of man. As the primitive races were 

 certain to die out, he held that it was our duty to 

 posterity to accumulate all the facts about them 

 within our reach. The English in particular owed 

 this to the world, as we had ** disestablished and 

 disendowed" more savage tribes than any other 

 nation. Without attempting more than a retrospect 

 of his services to this branch of science, we may here 

 bring together some of the leading facts in order of 

 time. 



His nightly labours in measuring the skulls in the 

 collection at the Hunterian Museum have already 

 been referred to by his eldest daughter, Mrs. Shann. 



''In 1864, when he was appointed, the skeletons 



numbered only 28 and the skulls 242. When 



he left the Hunterian Museum the collection 



of materials for studying the physical character 



of the races of men consisted of 89 skeletons and 



190 



