THE MUSEUM OPENED 135 



and foreign specimens, containing the identical 

 plants from which the original descriptions made by 

 Linnaeus, Amblett, Jagny, Brown, and Bentham 

 were written. The description of the matter and 

 material taken from Bloomsbury to South Ken- 

 sington belongs rather to the history of the Museum 

 than to that of Sir William Flower. But the 

 immense task of transfer and re-arrangement was 

 accomplished by the able staff of the Museum in far 

 less time than might have been anticipated. 



It was not until the spring of 1881 that the 

 collections were so far arranged that the public were 

 admitted to the building; and Owen himself resigned 

 the post of Superintendent two years later. But 

 with all its imperfections in detail, which are due to 

 others, and with the absence of the lecture theatre 

 and whale gallery, the Natural History Museum 

 stands as a monument to Owen's foresight, and as a 

 proof of the confidence placed in him by the 

 practical minds of the Government of the day.^ 



I The Cetacean Gallery was added later owing to Sir W. Flower's repre- 

 sentations, though not on the scale which he or Owen desired. 



