1856-81 'REPORT WITH PLAN' 31 



the spoils were then, as now, not in the keeping 

 of the Museum Trustees, but of a clerk in the 

 Treasury. 



Accordingly, on February 10, 1859, Owen 

 submitted a strong report to the Trustees, setting 

 forth his views as to a National Museum of 

 Natural History, accompanied with a plan, and 

 this was forwarded to the Treasury. The docu- 

 ment was remarkable for the complete grasp of 

 the problem and the author's intimate knowledge 

 of the facts concerned ; it was too weighty to be 

 overlooked, and on March 11, 1859, the 'Report 

 with Plan ' was ' ordered by the House of 

 Commons to be printed.' 2 A fac-simile of the 

 original pen-and-ink sketch plan drawn by Pro- 

 fessor Owen himself is given on the next page. 



This ' Report with Plan ' included estimates 

 of space for the then acquired specimens of the 

 several departments of natural history, together 

 with space for the reception of the additional 

 specimens which might accrue in the course of a 

 generation. It further recommended that ' such 

 a building, besides giving accommodation to 

 the several classes of natural history objects 

 . . . should also include a hall for a distinct depart- 

 ment, adapted to convey an elementary knowledge 

 of all divisions of natural history, the large propor- 

 tion of public visitors not being specially conver- 

 sant with any particular subject.' 



2 Pari. Papers (126 i.), fo. 1859. 



