1848-49 DEATH OF MR. AND MRS. CLIFT 341 



to cold boiled beef, cold fowl and tongue, salad, 

 lobsters, sherry and ginger beer, ... all more or 

 less like millers ; my lord the whitest, particularly 

 one side of his nose, being short-sighted. Dixon 

 occupied himself in penning a pretty little sonnet 

 to mark the occasion, of which I quote the last 

 few lines : — 



But should some scientific mind behold 

 This ancient tomb of lizards, birds and fish, 

 Of shells, and smaller forms of every mould, 

 Their flinty shroud removed, will meet his wish. 

 These lines to mark a happy day are writ 

 With Owen, Gray, and keen Northampton's wit.' 



From Worthing he w T ent on to Lady Hastings', 

 at Lymington, and in a letter to his sister Kate 

 (June 19, 1849), he says of Lady Hastings' col- 

 lection : ' Rare and wonderful beasts, carnivorous 

 and herbivorous, are represented by the numerous 

 jaws and bones of all parts of the skeleton which 

 Lady H., by encouragement to the poor women 

 and children, has received from the old Eocene 

 beds about here.' 



About a week after Owen's return to the 

 College of Surgeons a great grief befell him and 

 his wife — the death of both Mr. and Mrs. Clift. 

 Mrs. Clift, who had been ailing some time, first 

 passed away, and her death was quickly followed 

 by that of her husband. Owen had always the 

 strongest feelings of respect and affection for 

 William Clift, with whom so many events and 



