xxii RICHARD OWEN 377 



skeletons of every variety arranged side by side for facility of 

 comparison, the brain preserved in spirit showing its char- 

 acteristic size and distinctive structures, etc. " The series of 

 zoology," he says, " would lack its most important feature were 

 the illustrations of the physical characters of the human race 

 to be omitted." 



An adequate exhibition of the Cetacea, both by means of 

 stuffed specimens and skeletons, also always formed a prominent 

 element in his demand for space. " Birds, shells, minerals," 

 he wrote, " are to be seen in any museum ; but the largest, 

 strangest, rarest specimens of the highest class of animals can 

 only be studied in the galleries of a national one." And 

 again : " If a national museum does not afford the naturalist 

 the means of comparing the Cetacea, we never shall know 

 anything about these most singular and anomalous animals." 



When, however, the contents of the museum were finally 

 arranged, nominally under his direction, physical anthropology 

 was only represented by a few skeletons and skulls placed in 

 a corner of the great gallery devoted to the osteology of the 

 Mammalia, and the fine series of Cetacean skeletons could only 

 be accommodated in a most unsuitable place for exhibition in 

 a part of the basement not originally destined for any such 

 purpose. The truth is that the division of the museum 

 establishment into four distinct departments, each with its 

 own head, left the " superintendent " practically powerless, and 

 Owen's genius diet not lie in the direction of such a re- 

 organisation as might have been effected during the critical 

 period of the removal of the collections from Bloomsbury and 

 their installation in the new building. Advancing age, also, 

 probably indisposed him to encounter the difficulties which 

 inevitably arise from interference with time-honoured traditions. 

 At length, at the close of the year 1883, being in his eightieth 

 year, he asked to be relieved from the responsibilities of an 

 office the duties of which he had practically ceased to perform. 

 The nine remaining years of his life were spent in peaceful 

 retirement at Sheen Lodge, an ideal residence for one who had 

 such a keen enjoyment of the charms of Nature in every form, 

 for, though so large a portion of his active life had been 

 passed among dry bones, anatomical specimens, microscopes, 



