242 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. vm. 



A man who held for so many years so pro- 

 minent a position as Owen inevitably becomes the 

 victim of strange requests. As years passed, 

 he formed a small collection of letters, which 

 he labelled ' Specimens of my Correspondence.' 

 One of these he received on January 23, 1880. 

 It was a twelve-page letter, closely written, from 

 a gentleman who forwarded at the same time a 

 large packet of poems of his own composition, 

 which he desired the Professor to read through 

 with comments and return. The letter contained 

 a biography of the writer, with a minute account 

 of his poetic instincts and aspirations. Owen 

 answered the letter politely, but at the same 

 time begged to be excused from perusing the 

 poems on account of their length, and con- 

 cluded his letter with the following words: 'In 

 my seventy-sixth year, with rare materials 

 awaiting examination and the impending labour 

 of the transfer of our Natural History Museum 

 hence to South Kensington, you will condone a 

 request to spare both our brief allotted time for 

 work — yours in writing, mine in reading and 

 replying.' 



Another specimen may be quoted, which the 

 Professor has endorsed 'A characteristic request ! 

 from a perfect stranger ! ! ' It runs thus : — 



' Dear Professor Owen, — A few months hence, 

 all being well, I leave England to return to the 

 United States. My wife and I are gathering 



