4 o PROFESSOR OWEN ch. II. 



is mooted in Mr. Darwin's book is far beyond the 

 small class expressly concerned in scientific re- 

 search.' 



Among many other interesting suggestions 

 made by Owen before this committee we find that 

 he considered that those in charge of national 

 museums should be occasionally sent on a visit of 

 inspection to similar institutions abroad, and inti- 

 mated that these visits should be made at the indi- 

 vidual's own expense and in his own time. 



The rejection of his scheme by the Govern- 

 ment, which considered that a supplementary 

 exhibition gallery to the British Museum was all 

 that was reasonably required, caused Owen con- 

 siderable grief and mortification. But he says : ' I 

 now feel grateful that the sole responsibility of 

 the author of the " Report and Plan " is attested in 

 the pages of a work 7 which will last as long as, 

 and may possibly outlast, the great legislative 

 organisation whose debates and determinations 

 are therein authoritatively recorded. 



' I was not, however, cast down, nor did I lose 

 either heart or hope. I was confident in the 

 validity of the grounds of my appeal, and foresaw 

 in the inevitable accumulations year by year the 

 evidence which would attest its soundness and 

 make plain the emergency of the proposed remedy.' 

 Moreover, there was one who, though not a 

 naturalist, had devoted more time, pains, and 



7 Hansard. 



