332 OWEN'S POSITION IN ANATOMICAL SCIENCE 



achievements in Comparative Anatomy and 

 Palaeontology which I have recounted. 



But this really lay in the nature of things. 

 Obvious as are the merits of Owen's anatomical 

 and palaeontological work to every expert, it is 

 necessary to be an expert to discern them ; and 

 endless pages of analysis of his memoirs would 

 not have made the general reader any wiser than 

 he was at first. On the other hand, the nature of 

 the broad problems of the ' Archetype ' and of 

 'Parthenogenesis' may easily be stated in such a 

 way as to be generally intelligible ; while from 

 Goethe to Zola, poets and novelists have made 

 them interesting to the public. I have, therefore, 

 permitted myself to dwell upon these topics at 

 some length ; but the reader must bear in mind 

 that, whatever view is taken of Sir Richard 

 Owen's speculations on these subjects, his claims 

 to a high place among those who have made 

 great and permanently valuable contributions to 

 knowledge remain unassailable. 



