388 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. xn 



It represents the archetype, or primal pattern — 

 what Plato would have called the " Divine idea " on 

 which the osseous frame of all vertebrate animals 

 — i.e. all animals that have bones — has been con- 

 structed. The motto is " The One in the Manifold," 

 expressive of the unity of plan which may be traced 

 through all the modifications of the pattern, by 

 which it is adapted to the varied habits and modes 

 of life of fishes, reptiles, birds, beasts, and human 

 kind. Many have been the attempts to discover 

 the vertebrate archetype, and it seems now gene- 

 rally felt that it has been found. . . . 



'You will be glad to hear that H.R.H. 

 [Duchess of Gloucester *] has graciously allotted 

 me a cow's grass in the Park, which will reduce 

 the expense of our luxurious zoological addition 2 

 to zero nearly ; and already the economy of the 

 cow has begun to show itself, for we have been 

 eating our own butter for a fortnight, and my bread 

 and milk is a new dainty to what it was, and we 

 all enjoy our glass of milk at night instead of tea.' 



One of the early visitors to Owen in his new 

 abode was Alfred Tennyson. His visit is thus 

 related in the diary : — 



'August 6. — To-day we had a visit from Alfred 

 Tennyson. His wife sat in the carriage, being in 

 a delicate state of health. Miss Tennyson came 

 in with her brother, who struck me as being a 



1 Then Ranger of the 2 The cow was a present 



Park. from Sir Richard Vyvyan. 



