358 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. xi. 



There was an immense crowd of visitors to the 

 Gardens. R. and I got through the crowd to the 

 giraffe paddock, in the hope of getting some 

 friends into the house, but soon found it out of 

 the question. There was a dense mass of people 

 waiting their turn to get inside the house, and 

 the whole road leading to that part of the Gardens 

 was full of a continuous stream of people. Mr. 

 Mitchell said that there were more than 6,000 last 

 Saturday, and that there were about 10,000 to- 

 day.' 



The Hunterian Lectures of the season were 

 finished by May 4. On that day Owen went 

 to the Royal Academy dinner. ' Sir Robert Peel 

 was there, and also Thackeray, who sent to me 

 across the table to take a glass of wine.' 



A remarkable collection of antique watches, 

 containing, amongst others, one which the owner 

 stated to have belonged to Milton, was exhibited 

 this year. Owen went to see them, and his wife 

 records that on his way back ' R. said that he felt 

 convinced the watch could never have belonged 

 to Milton, because of the bad Latin of the inscrip- 

 tion on its face, which Milton was supposed to 

 have written himself. R. did not tell this to the 

 owner of the watch. It was, in fact, impossible for 

 him to do so, as the worthy gentleman himself 

 was quite unconscious of the mistake.' 



Owen's holiday this year was spent chiefly in 

 Edinburgh. He occupied the whole of August 



