1 84 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. vi. 



July 7. — A sister-in-law of Sir John FrankliN 

 came to see me, bringing with her a thing which 

 she had been told was an unborn kangaroo. She 

 was hesitating about bringing such an " indelicate " 

 subject to a gentleman, &c, &c, when I set her 

 mind at rest by assuring her that the kangaroo 

 had not only been born, but had certainly lived 

 for some time, as I soon saw. She told me her 

 sister, Lady Franklin, had given it to her. As it 

 was a Microscopical night, R. was dining at the 

 Athenaeum.' 



' 20th. — R. spent his birthday in going over 

 with my father to Kew, in order to examine the 

 collection of Hunterian preparations there, with 

 regard to their coming to the College. R. is 

 very busy now, preparing his " Report on British 

 Fossil Reptiles," Part II., which is to be read 

 in about a week's time at the meeting of the 

 British Association at Plymouth,' 



On the 27th of this month Owen and his wife 

 started from London and arrived at Southampton 

 in the evening, where they took the boat to 

 Plymouth. The next day they both visited the 

 'Geological Section' of the British Association, 

 where they heard speeches from Sedgwick and 

 Dr. Buckland. On August 2, with De la Beche 

 in the chair, Owen read his ' Report on British 

 Fossil Reptiles,' speaking for two hours and a half. 

 Amongst his audience were Lord Northampton, 

 Sedgwick, Conybeare, Sir T. Acland, &c. After 



