46 
PROCEEDINGS  OE  THE  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 
[May  1893.,. 
THE  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS  OE  THE  PRESIDENT, 
W.  H.  Httdleston,  Esq.,  M.A.,  E.R.S.,  E.L.S. 
Gentlemen, — 
"  ¥ 
Our  losses  by  death  since  the  last  Anniversary  Meeting  have 
been  considerable,  although  there  were  but  few  of  the  Fellows 
deceased  who  participated  to  any  great  extent  in  the  work  of  the 
Society.  No  more  than  five,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  contributed 
to  its  publications. 
Sir  Richard  Owen,  X.C.B.,  E.R.S.,  youngest  son  of  Mr.  Richard 
Owen,  of  Fulmer  Place,  near  Slough,  was  born  at  Lancaster  on  the 
20th  July,  1804.  He  was  educated  at  the  grammar  school  of  his 
native  town,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance,  amongst  others,  of 
Vhewell,  afterwards  Master  of  Trinity,  a  firm  friend  of  his  for  many 
years.  Having  evinced  an  anxiety  for  a  seafaring  life,  young  Owen 
is  stated  to  have  served  for  a  short  time  as  midshipman.  Ultimately 
he  returned  home,  was  articled  to  a  surgeon  in  Lancaster,  and 
about  1823  matriculated  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Two. 
years  afterwards  he  removed  to  London,  where  he  joined  the  medical 
school  of  St.  Bartholomew’s  Hospital,  and  in  the  following  year 
entered  himself  as  a  member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons.  On 
the  completion  of  his  medical  studies,  Mr.  Owen  settled  down  to 
practise  in  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn  Fields. 
It  must  often  have  occurred  to  those  who  are  fond  of  tracing  the 
early  history  of  a  celebrity  that  opportunity  seems  to  have  been  the 
making  of  most  men.  We  need  not,  however,  suppose  that  if  Owen 
had  continued  to  apply  himself  exclusively  to  private  practice,  or 
had  joined  the  medical  department  of  the  Navy,  he  might  not  after¬ 
wards  have  become  a  distinguished  anatomist.  Indeed,  we  know  of 
one  who  aid  actually,  at  the  outset  of  life,  make  choice  of  the  latter 
profession,  and  who  ultimately  rivalled  Owen  himself  in  the  very 
branch  of  science  he  had  chosen  to  make  his  own.  The  year  1828 
witnessed  the  turning-point  in  Owen’s  career.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  rising  talent  and  skill  of  his  pupil  had  been  duly 
noted  by  Abernethy,  at  whose  suggestion  he  was  employed  by  the 
College  of  Surgeons  to  assist  in  making  a  catalogue  of  the  Hunterian 
Collection.  F rom  that  day  onwards  his  long  public  life  was,  with 
possibly  one  exception,  an  uninterrupted  success. 
It  is  by  no  means  necessary  on  the  present  occasion  to  enumerate 
