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The Life of Richard Owen by His Grandson: The Reverend Richard Owen
The Life of Richard Owen by His Grandson The Reverend Richard Owen Author:Richard Owen Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 1857-59 LECTURER AT ROYAL SCHOOL OF MINES 59 CHAPTER III 1857-59 Lecturer on Palaeontology—The 'Prix Cuvier,' 1857—Suspected of the Authorship of ' Scenes... more » from Clerical Life'—Fullerian Professor of Physiology, 1857—Address as President of the British Association, 1858—Discovery of the Remains of John Hunter, 1859—Foreign Member of the Institute of France— Hon. LL.D. of Cambridge, and Rede Lecturer, 1859—The British Association at Aberdeen—Succeeded as President by the Prince Consort—Literary Work and Lectures—Correspondence on Darwin's ' Origin of Species.' Now that the development of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington has been traced from the early schemes which Owen formed up to their practical realisation, it will be necessary to go back to the year 1857, in order to pick up the thread of his life and work at that date. This year was marked by his appointment as Lecturer on Palaeontology at the Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street. His first lecture was given on February 26, at the Museum of Practical Geology, and amongst the audience, as an entry in the diary shows, ' were many old friends : Dr. Livingstone, Frank Buckland, the Duke of Argyll with his sons, Sir Charles Lyell, and Sir Roderick Murchison.' Nor was this attendance a compliment paid by his friends at the commencement of the course. Many of the most distinguished .men in London set aside their work at the busiest time of the day in order to be present there. Of subsequent lectures Mrs. Owen wrote in the diary : ' A good proof of the worth of these lectures is afforded by the number of busy men attending them at the inconvenient hour of 2 P.m.' The interest of the lectures was maintained to the end. 'At Lecture VIII.,' writes Mrs. Owen in the diary, ' I heard the remark that these lect...« less