1843-44 THE OLD THATCHED HOUSE 227 



appear to be undeniable ; and then the conversa- 

 tion merged into who now in England would be 

 nearest the throne through the Tudors, when 

 the Duke of Buckingham, through his mother, 

 direct from Harry VII., was held to be the 

 personage. . . . At half-past ten we broke up.' 



It was in this year that Owen began his work 

 — now regarded as a classic — on ' British Fossil 

 Mammalia.' He originally intended to bring it 

 out in monthly parts, but finally determined, 

 acting upon Charles Lyell's advice, to issue it 

 every two months. An entry in the diary states : 

 ' Mr. Van Voorst has agreed to the proposal 

 suggested by Mr. Lyell to bring the work out 

 every two months instead of one. Mr. Lyell 

 further said that one would have quite enough to 

 do to get the first number into one's head in the 

 two months' time, let alone one ; that it certainly 

 was so as far as he was concerned.' 



With regard to the first number, Owen re- 

 ceived the following letter from Dr. H. Falconer : — 



February 3, 1844. 



' My dear Owen, — I have seen the first num- 

 ber of your " Fossil British Mammalia." You 

 are the Magnus Apollo in these matters — a whale 

 among the minnows — and those who come after 

 you will take your authority on trust, without 

 perhaps thinking it necessary to refer to the 

 originals in matters referring either to structure 



Q 2 



