1846-47 AWARDED THE 'ROYAL MEDAL' 291 



' ijtk. — Richard to the Royal Society, where 

 they had voted him the Royal Medal for his paper 

 on Belemnites. He was in the chair at the last 

 meeting when it was proposed, and demurred 

 because it put him in an awkward position. After 

 some discussion he was requested to retire from 

 the room for a few moments, and Dr. Roget 

 having again proposed the belemnites, R. found 

 on his return that the medal was voted to him. 

 The fact of his paper being recommended for the 

 medal while he himself was in the chair might 

 look strange to those who were not aware of the 

 facts of the case.' 



His co-medallist was Mr. Leverrier, to whom, 

 for his discovery of the new planet, was awarded 

 the Copley Medal. 



On December 12 Owen sent to the printers 

 a work in which is embodied the manuscript of 

 his ' Vertebrate Animals.' This was an octavo 

 volume, and consisted of his Hunterian Lectures 

 on the subject. In this year also one of his more 

 important papers was the description of a true 

 fossil monkey (Macacus pliocenus) from the Plei- 

 stocene deposit of Grays, Essex, a note on which 

 he had previously presented to the Institute of 

 France. 



The last evening of the year 1846 he spent at 

 a large children's party, where he went in company 

 with Lyell and Babbage, the latter of whom he 

 describes as ' looking beaming throughout.' 



u 2 



