230 SIR WILLIAM FLOWER 



heart necessitated his lying down for some hours. 

 His friends urged his resigning the post in order to 

 take complete rest, but the doctors did not consider 

 it necessary so long as he gave up social engage- 

 ments, and thus could have quiet evenings. His 

 great interest in every department of the Museum, 

 as well as in every man in it, seemed to work 

 like a tonic on his health in enabling him to carry 

 on his duties, assisted most loyally by the staff, 

 one of whom said that *'an hour of Sir William 

 Flower was of more value to the Museum than a 

 whole day from any one else." Thus encouraged, 

 he struggled on and completed the ** Whale Room," 

 which he had ardently longed to add to the Museum. 

 The Cetacea, necessarily unseen in the ocean, were 

 now for the first time displayed in a manner that all 

 could see and understand — by help of the labels, 

 over which he took the greatest care and trouble, 

 composing them even when awake at night, reading 

 to his wife what he had written in pencil in the 

 intervals of pain, so anxious was he to stimulate the 

 interest of the public and to convey as much 

 information as possible, consistent with the brevity 

 necessary for printed labels. Thus the collection 

 grew, even whilst its originator's strength declined, 

 reminding one pathetically of Michael Angelo's 



lines. 



The more the marble wastes, 

 The more the statue grows. 



And this was still more true of his character. He 



