236 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. vm. 



admission of the public, and also of nightly admis- 

 sion and admission on Sundays, to portions of 

 the building, with exhibited objects of interest 

 and extent sufficient to gratify any reasonable 

 expectation, and requiring a minimum of super- 

 vision.' 



The removal from Egypt to England of 

 Cleopatra's Needle greatly interested Owen, who 

 was anxious that the Government should have the 

 obelisk placed in the great forecourt of the 

 Museum at Bloomsbury, where it would form a 

 fitting supplement to the antiquities within. He 

 accordingly wrote letters on the subject, and inter- 

 viewed officials at the Board of Works. 8 H.R.H. 

 the Prince of Wales, in 1869, was at the cost 

 of removing the dust and displaying England's 

 obelisk in its whole noble length. 



This obelisk, however, was eventually placed 

 on the Thames Embankment, not without pro- 

 test on the part of Owen and other Egyptolo- 

 gists, who objected to its incongruous position. 



A long letter from Oliver Wendell Holmes 

 written to Owen, and dated Boston, December 18, 

 1878, is characteristic and interesting. Some 

 extracts from it are given below. 



' My palaeontological accomplishments are but 



8 The obelisk in question is moration of the victories in 



the fellow of that now in Egypt in 1801, but remained, 



America, for it is one of a pair. half buried in the sand, till 



It was given to England by Erasmus Wilson paid for its 



Mohammed AH in comme- removal to London in 1877. 



