50 Sir Richard Owen, K.C.B. 
animals as the Zoological Society’s menagerie could from time to 
time supply, and this enabled him to contribute a long succession of 
most valuable papers to the Proceedings of the Society’s Journal 
and elsewhere. 
Valuable as are these memoirs, we naturally turn to Owen’s 
paleontological labours as affording the matter of greatest interest 
to geologists. 
Most interesting of these is his Monograph on the Fossil Mammals 
of the Mesozoic Formations (1871), which, although late in date, 
embodies much of his earlier work, and contains thirty species from 
British localities, such as Frome, Stonesfield, and Purbeck. ‘This, 
together with his memoirs on the Red Crag Cetacea (1869) ; the 
Reptilia of the London Clay (1848-56, and 1880) ; of the Cretaceous 
Formations (1851-64) ; of the Wealden and Purbeck (1871-79) ; 
of the Kimmeridge Clay (1859-69) ; of the Mesozoic Formations 
(1873-77) ; forming a large series of Monographs, have all appeared 
in the annual volumes of the Palzontographical Society, embracing 
descriptions of 159 species of reptilia and nine species of cetacea. 
Of his contributions to scientific societies it would be quite beyond 
the scope of this brief notice to give a detailed account.1 His 
Memoir on the Pearly Nautilus appeared as early as 1882; his 
paper on a Belemnite from the Oxford Clay in 1844; his “ History 
of British Fossil Mammals and Birds,” in 1846; his “ History of 
British Fossil Reptiles,” 1849-51; his Paleontology in 1860, and 
2nd Hdition (1861). Among his Memoirs on foreign fossils may be 
mentioned that on the gigantic extinct sloth Mylodon (1842) ; on the 
Megatherium (in 1860); his series of Memoirs on the “extinct 
Marsupialia of Australia ;”? the “extinct Birds of New Zealand ;’’* 
his memoirs on the Archeopteryz,‘ and the Dodo,’ and on the fossil 
reptilia of South Africa,® are the most important. Of the twenty 
papers in this Macazryx the first appeared in 1865, and the last 
in 1883; the series form good examples of his short papers on 
paleontological subjects; and nearly every one is the description 
of some good fossil which had been brought to his notice. 
In 1856, the question of the severance of the Natural History 
Departments of the British Museum was before Parliament, and 
after a prolonged discussion, Mr. Panizzi (aided, no doubt, by Lord 
Palmerston) held his position of Principal Librarian and chief 
Executive Officer of the British Museum, and Professor Owen was 
appointed Superintendent of the Natural History Departments, but 
without a separate administration. This enabled him to escape from 
all official routine, save one annual report, and signing the Keepers’ 
monthly reports, and with now and then a special word of recom- 
mendation. He also gave a course of 12 lectures annually in the 
Lecture-Theatre of the Jermyn Street Museum; but only for a few 
1 The Royal Society’s Catalogue of Scientific papers puts the number at 360; 
which does not include his works published separately. 
2 Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. 3 Trans. Zool. Soc. London. 
4 Ibid. 5 [bid. 
6 Published by the Trustees of the British Museum. 
