had not caused him to neglect a profession in which he might 

 have become eminent. In 1821 he assisted his father in the 

 work we have referred to ; and soon afterwards his energy and 

 intelligence recommended him to the zealous men who were 

 agitating the subject of the emancipation of the slaves. Into 

 the attainment of this object he threw himself with his cha- 

 racteristic heartiness, visiting Bristol, Liverpool, and Glasgow. 

 In 1824 he was appointed, through the influence of the late 

 John George Children, one of the assistants in the Natural His- 

 tory Department of the British Museum, having worked there 

 for some time previously, assisting Dr. Leach, the predecessor of 

 Mr. Children as Keeper of the Natural History Collection, in his 

 labours. In 1826 he married the widow of his cousin, Francis 

 Edward Gray, who survives him, and found in her a fitting 

 help-mate to share and encourage him in all his undertakings. 

 In the summer after his marriage, and for man}?- following 

 years, he made a practice of spending his vacations in visiting 

 different places on the Continent where museums existed, 

 making many warm and lasting friendships among the pro- 

 fessors and others who shared his tastes and entered into his 

 studies, making his observations and notes on whatever 

 suggested itself as likely to be of value in the improvement 

 of the national collection. In 1840, upon the retirement of 

 Mr. Children, he was appointed to the post of Keeper of the 

 Zoological Collection, and he threw himself at once with 

 ardour into the work of arranging the now magnificent collec- 

 tion in our National Museum. Those who are old enough to 

 remember the confusion that reigned in the dark rooms of 

 Montague House, where camelopards, crustacese, and corals 

 were crowded together, can appreciate the changes effected 

 under the superintendence of Dr. Gray. In this work he was 

 ably seconded by his assistants. His brother George devoted 

 himself to the ornithological order ; the late Edward Double- 

 day and Mr. Frederick Smith to the lepidoptera and coleoptera, 

 etc. ; Dr. Baird, to conchology ; and Dr. Giinther, who succeeds 

 him in his post, to ichthyology ; and by their united efforts 



