THE 
GHOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 
NEW SEmMiES. DECADE IN VOL. xX, 
No. II.—FEBRUARY, 1893. 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES: 
J.—Srr Ricsarp Owen, K.C.B., M.D., D.C L., LL.D., F.B.S., 
F.L.S., F.G.S., V.P.Z.S., Pres. Pal. Soc., Assoc. Inst. France. 
(With a Portrait.) 
N recording the regret which the world of science feels at the 
loss of Sir Richard Owen, we seem to stand in a more intimate 
and personal relation to him than many others, from the fact, that 
he was not only one of the early and frequent contributors to the 
Grorocican Magazine, but also was the official colleague of the 
writer during a quarter of a century. 
Born at Lancaster on the 20th July, 1804, Owen was destined 
for the Medical profession, and passed from school to college in 
Edinburgh, where he matriculated in 1824, passing his medical 
examinations and becoming a member of the Royal College of 
Surgeons in 1827. 
About this time, his love of science was stimulated by a short 
residence in Paris, during which he attended the lectures of the 
illustrious Cuvier, then at the zenith of his greatness. After a 
brief period of private practice, he gladly accepted the position 
of Assistant-Curator of the Hunterian Collections in the College 
of Surgeons, conferred upon him on the recommendation of the 
celebrated Dr. Abernethy. Here he revelled in the examination 
of the uncatalogued preparations of Dr. John Hunter, the most 
distinguished surgeon of the last century.’ He undertook the pre- 
paration of a series of Descriptive and IIlustrated Catalogues of the 
specimens of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy ; and later on, 
those of Natural History, Osteology, and Fossil Organic Remains 
preserved in the College Museum (1885-40). In 1834 Owen was 
elected to the Chair of Comparative Anatomy in St. Bartholomew’s, 
carrying the title of ‘‘ Professor ;”” and in 1885 married the daughter 
of Mr. William Clift, Curator of the Hunterian Museum, his old 
chief officer. In the following year he gained the fellowship 
of the Royal Society and the post of Hunterian Professor in the 
Royal College of Surgeons, which he held until his appointment 
to be Superintendent of the Departments of Natural History in the 
British Museum in 1856. 
Whilst engaged upon the large series of Catalogues for the College 
of Surgeons’ Museum, Owen obtained permission to dissect such 
1 In this task he was assisted by his life-long friend Mr. (now Sir J ames) Paget. 
DECADE III.—VOL X.—NO. Il. 
