878 



be regarded as his chief merit, viz. his single-minded fulfilment of 

 arduous duties under peculiar difficulties, and his noble self-devotion 

 to the achievements and memory of his great master, during the 

 period that elapsed between his decease and the ultimate transfer of 

 the Collection to its present worthy custodians. Mr. Clift has de- 

 scribed the almost solitary condition in w^hich he suddenly found 

 himself with this great and important charge. At an age when the 

 passions are strongest, in a metropolis teeming with opportunities 

 and temptations, — not unconscious, moreover, of his own abilities and 

 of the advantage which his apprenticeship to Hunter would give him 

 in the pursuit of the practice of surgery, — neither pleasure, profit, 

 nor ambition, could make him swerve from the course of duty to 

 which he had devoted himself. 



The Corporation of Surgeons having accepted the Hunterian Col- 

 lection on the terms proposed by Government, was very properly 

 re-incorporated by charter, dated 22nd March 1800, under the title 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons. 



One of the first acts of the College, in taking upon itself this new 

 bond of relation to the natural sciences, was to appoint Mr. William 

 Clift Conservator of the Museum, under the superintendence of a 

 Board of Curators chosen from the Council. And the Board, elected 

 on the 3rd of June 1800, in its first ' Report,' expresses "its satisfac- 

 tion that the Conservator has manifested qualifications for all the im- 

 portant offices under the distinctions of Arrangement and Description, 

 as well as for his other duties," p. 7. And in the first statement of 

 the expenses of the Museum is the item — " Salary and gratuity to 

 the Conservator from Christmas 1799 " — the date of his appointment 

 —"to Midsummer 1801 "—£145. 



From this time forwards the time and talents of Mr. Clift were 

 exclusively devoted to the advancement of comparative anatomy and 

 physiology, either indirectly by the preservation and increase of the 

 Museum, or more immediately by anatomizing and depicting the 

 structure of new or little-known animals. 



Sir Everard Home having undertaken the charge of preparing a 

 catalogue of the Hunterian Collection, much of Mr. Clift's time was 

 occupied in assisting that gentleman in investigations which seemed 

 to relate to the desired object. The results of most of these labours 

 have been recorded in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and, 

 with few exceptions, the illustrations of the numerous papers on 

 Comparative Anatomy, by Sir Everard Home, are from the accurate 

 and elegant pencil of Mr. Clift. 



Pending the absence of catalogues, the preparations of the Mu- 

 seum were orally explained to visitors by the Conservator, whose 

 style and matter bespoke the genuine Hunterian source from which 

 he had derived his knowledge of the nature and scope of the Collec- 

 tion. On every occasion, also, Mr. Clift's time and knowledge were 

 at the service of all who, in the investigation of any subject of 

 anatomy, physiology, or palaeontology, had occasion to consult the 

 Museum under his charge. His own immediate contributions to 

 science, at least those bearing his name, are but few. Two only 



