New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-17
SIR RICHARD OWEN.
AN INTERESTING BIOGRAPHY BY HIS
GRANDSON.

son. the Rev. Richard owen, NJ. A.. WIN me
born Also an Essay ~ on ne ab Hon H.
Two Volumes. Vol j; PIP. dD, 400. VOL H. PIP
a. 1913. d. Appleton & Co.
The stubborn figure Of Sir Richard Owen will
always stand for conservatism In science Yet
he was far from being a conservative III merely
happened that he was not ready Tot the hhoS.
eficient hypothesis attained by science. that OF
evolution. and for the principle OF natural seiec-
+,on when these captivated the attention Of the
world 1t might be supposed that this unreadi-
ness on his part was due to his Partially for de-
tails 70 the exclusion of general theories. But II
does not appear that such was the case. Tor
Owen had his moments Of speculative enthusi-
asm. and before the publication OF Darwin
views had used language In way that seemed
af,erward n presage of the new Views and almost
warranted him in asserting his rights to cons!d-
Grafton as the real inventor Of the idea. There
were times when he seemed to claim TINS pri-
or.ty. But these were momentary' ana were
finally replaced by a conviction that the true
solution was still TO be Ct ught. Ills hueVisi""
at a critical period led Darwin TO write that not
only he but Others found owens controversies
writings difficult to understand and 10 recohche
with each other. "As far as the mere ehuh'ia-
ton" he added ''of the principle of natural seec-
ton Is concerned. It is quite immateriai whether
or not Professor owen preceded me- for Do'h OF
us were long ago preceded by DR.. Wells ana MI
Matthews" Whatever views owen had were
not held persisently The possibility Oh progress
from lower to higher. from simpler to more coi''-
dictated forms of life, occurred to him. ana ne
announced his views casually. But he attached
M Importance to them till he saw the actual
stir created by Darwin's theory. His mind was
c,,pb
look upon the continuance of a successful specu-
,a,,ve system in the light OF discovery. He
wanted something that appealed more directly
60 bis senses His own work in revealing the
character Of "Trichina Spralis' was OF the kind
that exactly satisfied his ideals of scientifc as
coverv His tentative hints toward scheme LOT
bringing the isolated facts Of science into reiaoh
with each other not pressed. because 'ne
facts as they stood. in their isolation were e'ou
enough for him. He demanded every atom VI
evidence that could be obtained about the ihus-
vdua,s that came under his dissecting tools
and he had an inspired qdickness In noting ever!
necular:ty and in making due inferences-soihe
Of them extremely far-reaching in their char-
acter He carried this faculty, sharpened by MS
anatomical practice. into other fields OF SCIENCE
For example In 1884 he wrote paper y" "e
ds,ocations Of the tail at certain point observ-
From the apparent deformty in question he in
ferred that these fossil animals had in their time
nossessed a heavy caudal fin. The suggestion
was IN allegiance for much more than half a cen
fury But in 1892. just before owens death. Dr.
rverbard Fraas discovered in the las OF
Uirtemberg the skeleton OF an ichthyosaur IN
1hich tho outlines Of the neshy parts were I'M
,rossaa on the stone This specimen also showed
that the caudal fin was really larger than owen
had ventured to imagine.
This profound stud" of the individual SUBJECT
human or animal. helps TO account LOT the 'ee'
ing in owen which enabled him, as PROFESSOR
,Iivart said To spread abroad in England the
perception that deep significance underHes '"e
struc,ura Of animals. a significance for which no
stress or strain and no influence OF hereoitS'
and certainly no mere practical utiitY can az
count" Homologies were all the more certain
when dwet upon by an intelligence which per
eis,antlv sought the type in the single skeleton.
Whatever speculative theories were pack oi
then, they were in themselves practical Only
a profoun6 knowledge of structural lkenesses
comprising the most minute and trivial peculIan-
,ies could Nave enabled owen 10 work out the
fpure Of the Dinornis, while the question
,vhstber such a creature had ever existed was
still in dispute. One day a seatarihg man
brought him what al first sight looked ike the
marrow bone OF OK. But the stranger III
sisted that 1t was fragment Of the thigh-pohe
OF a great eagle that once existed In Ne"-Aed-
land owen may well have been nettled by nav
ing what seemed very silly fraud perpeua'eo
upon him Later in life he was annoyed LOT
ho,a evepine because he had to decide for Lord
John Russel's family whether hambone which
they sent him was a bambone or not But II
turned on, next day that Lord John Russeh mao
received from the Grant family in America
uhs, nurported to be a bears ham. but had
never been satisfied until the professor gave an
on,nion on the nature Of the bone. Owen showed
the stranger from NewZealand that no Dird
cou,d Av with such legs as the piece Of bone In
d;cated Nevertheless. the latter was so uedo
IN earnest that the anatomist agreed at last TO
investigate the matter thoroughly. As soon as
,e,sure nermitted he took the fragment to the
skeleton Of an OK. and found that while the
resemblances were slight. the differences posi-
tvely precluded comparison. Nor could II be
assigned to any New-Zeaand quadrupeds But
while making these comparisons he observed 'he
fragment Of bone more and more carefully anu
was struck at last by obscure superficial marx
inys on the bone. which recalled to mind similar
90. on the surface of the long bones in some
,.rg. birds "Thereupon." he added. II pro-
ceeaed with II to the skeleton Of the ostrich
The bone tailed in point Of size with the smart
of the thigh bone. but was markedly dinerent IN
shape There were however, the same super
fetal reticulate impressions on the ostrlchs
femur which had caught my attention In the
exhaustive comparison previously made win
mammalian bones In short. stimulated 10
more minute and extended examination ar
rived at the conviction that the specimen hau
come from a bird: that 1t was the smart Oh
thgh-bone. and that 1t must nave iorheo par.
~ tho skeleton Of bird as large as. II not
larger than. the full-sized male ostrich-with
.h,s ,,ore striking difference. that whereas the
,an,ur ~ the ostrich like that of the cassowary,
emu rbea and eagle contains air. the present
..-,.- la.aa had hnnn Alled with marrow