New-York tribune., 1904-10-12

an elaborate and significant grouping Of the ear
homes Of a great variety of mammals, ranging
from the whale to the mouse BY thus enabling
tho student 10 make comparisons not otherwise
nossible he enhanced the usefulness Of the ma
terial exhibited. Still another series OF specI-
mems included the brains Of men and monkeys
which afforded practical information for surglcai
rurnoses and also bore on the relative intelh-
Eence Of the genera represented. Huxley maae
a careful study of this particular coIectioh anu
derived therefrom a strong argument IN suppoi'
Of the theory Of evolution, which was theh pro-
,-ol,i,q wide discussion Sir William himself. it
may be added. was an admirer ana lriena Oh
Darwin. whom he frequently visited Further
,oora he was 9 belpful exponent OF the doctrines
Of that naturalist.
Sir William effected an ingenious innovation
IN the manner Of connecting the bones Of a skel-
eton which made II possible TO remove one or
more OF them without disarranging the others
His biographer declares that he was the most
skilful expert in such work to be found IN ali
T7urone An even more radical Improvement
which he strove to promote was one in taxi
derny The natural history specimens belong
ing to the British Museum were then in the
charge of the late Sir Richard owen ana were
being gradually installed in new building at
South Kensincton. Flower succeeded Owen In
former was sorely tried by the bad workmanship
shown in stufing animals. In a lecture delv-
cred in 1876 he pointed out that the consequence
oe such bungling was TO mslead artists who
studied dead creatures instead OF live ones when
engaged in painting pictures, and thus INDUCED
in impossible creations. When Sir William was
appointed director OF the Natural History Mu-
scum, larger powers over his subordinates We're
given TO him than his predecessor enjoyed. He
was then able introduce new methods Of ar
ranging and labelling material which had not
been feasible before. His most important work
was confined TO the central hall Of the building,
in which at that time no installations had been
made. owen had intended 10 make that apart
ment an index Of the whole museum putting
specimens there which should be types Of those
elsewhere. Flower proceeded on a different
plan. He organized groups Of mammals. birds.
fishes and reptiles so as to indicate the develop
raent OF the highest forms OF life from the lower
He presented the facts in such a way that the
conclusion was obvious. Again. the contents
Of a series Of cases showed the variations which
q single species undergoes through differences
in age. sex. season and habitat. One collection
embraced Arctic animals, TO illustrate the in
Auence OF a polar climate. Another important
addition TO the museums exhibits was set Of
lhesize models OF whales. which were cut hori-
zontaly 10 reveal the coloring Of the flesh. Ceta-
ceans. by the way. were one Of Sir williams
special hobbies Horses were another. He wrote
many essays on both. 1t is noteworthy that
this eminent naturalist was strongly opposed 10
the use Of the check or bearing rein when driv-
ing.
During Sir Williams administration numerous
fresh acquisitions were made bv the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington, and some
Of them possessed much inherent beauty. This
was particularly true OF many Of the birds
These attractions and the system of displaying
the exhibits greatly increased the number OF
visitors 10 the institution. Their power was
even more strongly felt IN 1896 when ParlIa-
ment authorized the opening of its doors on Sun
day. Toward that consummation tho director
had long striven, in vain. and his wish was real
ized only three years before his death.