378 RICHARD OWEN xxn 



and books, he retained a genuine love for out -door natural 

 history, and the sight of the deer and other animals in the 

 park, the birds and insects in the garden, the trees, flowers, 

 and varying aspects of the sky, filled him with enthusiastic 

 admiration. He also had his library around him, and it is 

 needless to say that the habit of strenuous work never deserted 

 him till failing memory and bodily infirmity made it no 

 longer possible to continue that flow of contributions to 

 scientific literature which had never ceased during a period of 

 sixty-two years, his first and last papers being dated respectively 

 1826 and 1888. His wife and only child had died some time 

 before, but the son (who had held an appointment in the 

 Foreign Office) left a widow and seven children, who, coming 

 to reside with him at Sheen, completely relieved his latter 

 days of the solitude in which they would otherwise have been 

 passed. During the autumn of 1892 his strength gradually 

 failed, and he died on the 18th of December, literally of old 

 age. In accordance with his own expressed desire, he was 

 buried in the churchyard of Ham, near Richmond, in the 

 same grave with his wife, a large and representative assemblage 

 of men of science being present at the funeral ceremony. 



It may be thought that the prodigious amount of work 

 that Owen did in his special subjects would have left him no 

 time for any other occupations or relaxations, but this was by 

 no means the case. He was a great reader of poetry and 

 romance, and, being gifted with a wonderful memory, could 

 repeat by heart, even in his old age, page after page of 

 Milton and other favourite authors. For music he had a 

 positive passion ; in the most busy period of his life he might 

 constantly be seen at public concerts, listening with rapt 

 attention, and in his earlier days was himself no mean vocalist, 

 and acquired considerable proficiency in playing the violincello. 

 He was also a neat and careful draughtsman ; the large 

 number of anatomical sketches he left behind him testify to 

 his industry in this direction. His handwriting was unusually 

 clear and finished, considering the vast quantity of manuscript 

 that flowed from his pen, for he rarely resorted to dictation or 

 any labour-saving process. Only those who have had to clear 

 out rooms, official or private, which have been long occupied 



