stipends in this University, was exiguous. He never was and
was never expected to be a " whole timer.'" He looked in for a
couple of hours a day, supervised his assistants, made us all
keen, and rushed off to other work. The additions to the
Museum were this year numerous and valuable ; amongst them
were a two-horned Rhinoceros and the skeleton of a Grampus
from the Australian seas. A fine group of Birds of Paradise,
also obtained from Dr. Guillemard, showing the interesting
differences of sex and age, was now being set up in the Bird
Room, and a series of typical preparations, illustrating in a
comparative way the various organs of birds, was being ar-
ranged by Dr. Gadow.
During the Long Vacation of 1886, J. began the task of
rearranging and cataloguing the whole of the exhibited portion
of the Invertebrata, in which task he was helped by Mr. S. F.
(later Dr.) Harmer of King's College. It was at that time
proposed to issue the catalogue, but this has never been done.
Its preparation served a useful purpose, however, in revealing
numerous hitherto unnoticed gaps in the collections. These
were, as far as possible, filled up, and the catalogue, though
unprinted, has been invaluable for reference.
]Mr. Brady spent part of the summer of 188G and 1887 in
arranging the magnificent series of Foraminifera which he had
presented to the University, setting up for exhibition those
which he considered most suitable to a students' series. Each
specimen was beautifully mounted, and illustrated by the
enlarged drawings which had embellished his report of the
Challenger Foraminifera.
The Strickland Curator now presented to the Museum
a large collection of amphibia and reptiles which he had
The Teve?tsey Whale 285
got together during the previous three years in Portugal.
These had formed the basis of an interesting paper which he
had prepared on the geographical distribution of animals in
that part of the Peninsula. About this time Sir Julius von
Haast enriched the Museum by a series of bones of the Moa
{Dinomis), from the Museum at Christchurch, New Zealand.
The skeleton of the African elephant shot by Mr. Heape
was now placed side by side with the Indian elephant in the
centre of the Museum. They are overhung by the skeleton
of the Pevensey Whale {Balaenoptera nnisculus) mentioned in
J.'s first annual report, dated 1867. The expense and the
care required for mounting so huge an object had caused
almost indefinite delay. At length Dr. Harmer, J.'s successor
as Superintendent, with the aid of Mr. W. E. Dal by of the
Engineering Laboratory, and <^100 from the Reserve Fund,
mounted the whale in 1896. Nothing is more striking in our
Museum, or more demonstrative of the enormous size to which
marine mammals may attain, than the fact that, as you look
down from the gallery of the Museum at these three monsters,
you become aware that the skeletons of the two elephants could
almost be placed side by side within the ribs of the whale.
The Syndicate had lately made a special grant for books
for the Curator in Zoology, who was steadily M'orking at the
MacAndrew Collection, as to which he reports : — " It is not
too much to say that probably no finer collection of European
shells — in the sense of being practically useful in illustrating
and establishing variation of species— exists in this country.
The British Museum has nothing to compare with it." Mr.
H. M. Gwatkin, now Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History,
who had made a special study of the radulas or lingual ribbons
of Molluscs, was finding and describing many new examples
amongst the dried remains of animals which formed part of
this collection.
In 1886, too, came a great increase in the number of bird-
skins. Largely through Mrs. H. E. Strickland, the University
was able to acquire a very considerable portion of the magni-
2 86 y. at the 3V[useum of Zoology
ficent Collection of birds belonging to Sir William Jardine,
Bart. The total number of specimens received amounted to
over 2000, representing 900 species, of which 480 were new
to our collections. Mr. Gurney further presented 42 species,
and Professor Newton also added nearly 500 species on his own
behalf. Dr. Gadow reports that after this influx of birds, he
had nearly 20,000 specimens under his charge, representing
about 5000 different species, or nearly half the species of birds
known to exist.
During 1887 portions of the skeleton of the Steller's " Sea-
cow " {Wiytina gigas) was received in exchange from the United
States National Museum at Washington. It formed the sub-
ject of a most interesting historical sketch ^ by J. of the dis-
covery and extermination of this remarkable mammal. As an
example of the careful way J. used to describe in his annual
reports important additions to the Museum, I here quote his
account of the skeleton of the Rhytina., first exhibited in
1888 :—
" The principal addition to the Museum is the skeleton of
the extinct Northern Manatee {Rhytina gi gas). Our knowledge
of this huge Sirenian, which was restricted to Bering's Island,
off the coast of Kamschatka — is due to the German naturalist,
George William Steller, who accompanied Bering on his last
voyage. Their vessel was wrecked on the island, then unin-
habited, 5 November 1741. The Manatee was at that period
abundant all round the coast, but, after Steller's return, Russian
hunters, excited by the prospect of obtaining large cargoes of
skins of Fox, Sea Otter, and Sea Lion, with which the island
and those near it abounded, began to fit out expeditions.
Their vessels usually wintered on Bering"'s Island, ' in order to
procure a stock of salted provisions from the sea-cows (Manatees)
and other amphibious animals that are to be found there in great
abundance.' In consequence of this wholesale destruction, the
Rhytina became extinct in or about 1768.
" Steller's description of the animal was read to the St.
^ Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc, vi., 1889, p. 340.
The %hytma 287
Petersburg Academy in 1749; but he had been unable to
bring home any specimens, and all efforts to obtain bones
failed until 1844, when a broken skull, obtained on Bering's
Island, was brought to Professor Brandt. At present the island
is let by the Russian Government to the Alaska Commercial
Company, by whose permission the authorities of the National
Museum at Washington, U.S., have caused diligent search to
be made for bones of Rhytina^ with considerable success.
" As was briefly recorded in last year's report, Professor
Spencer F. Baird, at the instance of Professor Newton, sent
us such parts of a skeleton as could be spared for exchange.
The bones received were the following : skull ; third, fourth,
fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth,
fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, dorsal vertebrae ; second and
third lumbar vertebrae ; fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, thirteenth,
ribs of the left side ; fifteenth, seventeenth, ribs of the right
side ; right humerus ; right radius and ulna. As it would
have been impossible to articulate this series in such a manner
as to give any idea of the skeleton, I determined to obtain
restorations of the missing bones. Casts of the cervical
vertebrae and of one scapula were purchased from the late
Dr. Damon of Weymouth, the rest were modelled from the
nearly complete skeleton in the British Museum. The whole
restoration of the hands is conjectural, no portion of these
limbs having been as yet discovered. The skeleton, as mounted
in our Museum, is eighteen feet long." Later Dr. Guillemard
presented to the Museum the ear-bones which he had collected
in Bering's Island.
At the beginning of 1888, Mr. C. H. Russell, writing on
behalf of his mother, Lady Caroline Russell, offered to the
University the Collection of British Birds' Eggs made by the
late Mr. J. P. Wilmott, and bequeathed by him to Lady
Caroline's husband. This collection contained one specimen of
the Great Auk's egg, the one figured by Mr. Hewitson. I
do not know whether anyone except Professor Newton knew
at that time how many Great Auk's eggs there were in the
2 88 y. at the 3\4useum of Zoology
University collections. We used (a favoured few) to be shown
from time to time a drawer containing a considerable number,
but some of these were models or forgeries, and how many were
genuine and how many false we were never told.
In September 1888, Mr. Brady again visited Cambridge
to re-arrange his Foraminifera in the new cabinet which had
been provided for them, and this year also Mr. Warburton,
of Chrisfs College, added to the Invertebrate Collection a verv
complete series of British Spiders, which he had mounted and
illustrated by sketches showing the principal peculiarities of
each species.
In his annual report of this year, J. draws attention to
the overcrowding of the Museum, aud the necessity for ex-
tension. In the same report Dr. Gadow records the death of
Mrs. Strickland in August 1888. She had been a constant
friend to the Museum, not only by her ever generous gifts,
but by the incessant and pious care which she bestowed upon
the efficient preservation and cataloguing of the Strickland
Collection.
At Christmas 1889, Mr. Cooke resigned his position as
Cm-ator of the MacAndrew Collection, but he continued for
a time to reside in Cambridge, and the University recognised
the conscientious work he had done by conferring on him the
title of Honorary Curator of the MacAndrew Collection. He
was succeeded by Dr. David Sharp, who held office until 1909.
The arrival of so eminent an entomologist in Cambridge gave
a great impetus to the study of Insects, and a special room
was now set apart for an Entomological Department, on the
top floor, next to the room assigned to the Strickland Curator.
Some years ago a second room was added to this by re-
moving the partition wall. This enlarged room is, however,
totally inadequate to house properly the extensive collections
belonging to the University, or to afford accommodation for
the students who wish to work there.
In 1889 the Stewart Collections of skulls and horns were
for the first time exhibited in the Museum, and a valuable
The ^ird Collection 289
skeleton of the Jamaica Seal {Monachus tropicalis) presented
by Dr. F. Du Cane Godman of Trinity College, was articulated
and placed in the Museum. This species was hitherto " known
only by a skin without skeleton, from Jamaica, preserved
in the British Museum. In 1886 Don Ferrari Perez, Director
of the Museum of Natural History, Mexico, chartered a small
vessel and sailed from Campeche to a group of uninhabited
islands in the Gulf of Mexico, called Los Triangelos. He
stayed there for several days, and brought away with him
a considerable number of specimens. Our skeleton was pur-
chased of Mr. Ward, an American taxidermist settled in Mexico,
who accompanied the expedition."
As a sign of the value of the material lying almost hidden
in the Bird-room, I quote three sentences from the Strickland
Curator's report for 1889 : —
"The Osteological Collection has been completely re-
arranged, and rendered more accessible to scientific visitors;
the bones of each specimen, unless the skeleton be mounted
and exhibited in the show-cases, are lodged in separate glass-
topped boxes. The Collection now comprises the bones of
at least 820 specimens, representing about 450 different species
of birds, many of which are extremely rare, or even unique.
Not only in actual value, but also in extent, this Collection com-
pares favourably with those of most other museums, both at
home and abroad, especially if we take into account the
numerous skeletal preparations which are preserved in spirit,
and form a particularly valuable feature of the Cambridge
Museum."
In 1890 J. was planning to transfer the whole of the
Invertebrate Collection to the long gallery on the east side
of the Museum, which had hitherto been used as a temporary
laboratory for the classes in microscopical work in connection
with the Department of Physiology. This Collection had been
lately much increased by Mr. H. B. Brady, who had bequeathed
to the Museum the remainder of his Collections. In this year
also Colonel Feilden presented his Collection of Birds from
T
290 y' ^i t^^ Museum of Zoology
Barbados, whilst other specimens were continually arriving from
many generous donors.
We have now come to the parting of the ways. J. was
elected Registrary in 1891, and, although he could not at
once give up his duties at the Museums owing to certain
necessary alterations in the posts he held, he wrote his letter
of resignation to the Vice-Chancellor without delay. In his
report for 1890 he makes a farewell statement : —
" I have placed in the hands of the Vice-('hancellor my
resignation of the office of Superintendent of the Museum,
which I have held for exactly twenty-five years. In writing
this, ray last report, I wish, in the first place, to thank the
Syndicate for the uniform kindness I have experienced at their
hands, and for the liberality with which they have increased
the Collection and provided adequate appliances for its dis-
play. It would, I think, be difficult, if not impossible, to find
any Museum out of London so rich in specimens necessary
for educational purposes, or in which the objects displayed
are seen to such advantage. It would be absurd to affect
indifference at leaving the post to which I have been so long
attached, and in holding which I have been supported by
the cordial co-operation of all those with whom I have been
brought in contact ; but I am consoled by the belief that my
resignation will promote the best interests of an institution
which I have learnt to regard as almost my own. A younger
Superintendent is now necessary, one who will bring to the
discharge of his duties a more thorough knowledge of the
present state of science, and of what is required to fulfil
the exceptional conditions of a University Collection. I need
hardly add that I shall be always ready to give help and
information to my successor."
But a far longer period than was anticipated elapsed before
the future constitution of the Registraryship could be ar-
ranged, and he held both the Superintendentship and the
Secretaryship of the Museums and Lecture Rooms Syndicate
y.'s T^e sign at ion 291
until the end of 1891, being assisted in the duties of the
former post during the Easter and Michaehiias Terms and the
Long Vacation by Mr. J. J. Lister of St. John's College. Mr.
Lister devoted his time to a thorough revision of the exhibited
portion of the Invertebrate Collection, adding many new
specimens, and revising the MS. Catalogue.
The galleries mentioned above were now being gradually
filled with what J. calls "a noble series of Invertebrata," and
the cabinets of Insects which had hitherto been scattered
through different parts of the building were now brought
together in one room. It was whilst these changes, which had
been unduly prolonged by a strike of workmen in Cambridge,
were taking place, that J. handed over his collections into the
capable hands of Dr. S. F. Harmer of King's College.
In writing his first Annual Report to the Syndicate, the new
Superintendent commences with the following words: —
" I can hardly begin my first Report to the Syndicate in
any other way than by calling attention to the indebtedness
of the University to Mr. J. W. Clark, the retiring Superin-
tendent. It would be difficult to overestimate the extent
of the services rendered to the Museum by Mr. Clark, whose
labours in connection with the Department of Zoology during
the past twenty-five years have placed the University in posses-
sion of a Museum which, in respect to its utility as a Teaching
Museum at least, is probably second to none in the kingdom.
1 beg leave to record here my warm appreciation of the work
of my predecessor, Mr. Clark has signalised his retirement
by a most generous present to the Museum,^ in the form of
a large case which is being placed on the south side of the
gallery. This case is destined to receive a large part of the
collection of Fishes which, with the Amphibia and Reptilia,
are to be transferred to the gallery, in accordance with
Mr. Clark's own plan. This alteration has been made
^ He also bequeathed his extensive Library of Voyages and Travels
to the University to be placed under the charge of the Museums and
Lecture Rooms Syndicate.
292 y, at the 3[Iuseum of Zoology
possible by the removal of the Invertebrate Collections to the
gallery on the east side of the Museum, as explained in his
Report."
In twenty-five years J. had built up a stately, well-furnished
Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. Starting
with the faunistic collections of the Philosophical Society, and
the physiological and osteological specimens, very largely got
together by the Professors of Anatomy, he had weeded out,
developed, rearranged, and increased the Collections until
when he left them they were indeed a noble instrument
for instruction. There were of course helpers. Professor
Newton's left hand never knew what his right hand was
doing in the matter of adding specimens to the INIuseums.
Under Dr. Gadow the Bird Room flourished mightily. Mr.
Cooke, and later Dr. Sharp, with the sympathy but without
the interference of the Superintendent, made the most of
their departments. The net result was the Museum of 1891.
J. was not, of course, a skilled anatomist, or a very learned
zoologist : he had not had the training ; but he knew enough
of both sciences to make a success of the Museum under his
charge. Had he been more of a specialist, I do not think the
Collections would have grown as fast as they did or in so many
directions. He was very accurate in recording all new acquisi-
tions, and he kept most careful catalogues. He was here as
in other walks of life a good collector, and these characters
encouraged many to place their treasured accumulations under
his charge. He was clever at displaying a specimen so that
it taught a lesson, and he was most anxious that we should go
and see it when it was mounted. Once a year he held a little
Exhibition of the specimens prepared during the previous
twelve months, and this was both stimulating and instructive.
It has now been given up — a loss, in my opinion, to the teacher
and to the taught.
J. did not cater only for the undergraduate. His ambition,
which Professor Newton fully shared, was that the Museum of
Zoology and Comparative Anatomy should afford material
Trofessor a?id S up eri?it evident 293
for the expert, and many of the big Collections which came
to Cambridge in J.'s time have done this. He sympathised
with Mrs. Strickland's desire that the Collection ^ she gave the
University should aid the professed naturalist.
Two such strong-willed men as the Professor and the
Superintendent did not — in the nature of things — always "hit
it oft'." The Professor felt very strongly on a variety of
subjects. To take one instance, he was convinced that the
proper background for objects of Natural History, whether
stuffed or in spirit, was a peculiar, rather washy bluish-slate
colour. And there it is in many of our show-cases to-day.
You didn't argue with the Professor; you couldn't. His
attitude was, " Fm not arguing with you, Fm telling
you," and in many cases he was telling you right. Still it
saved friction and its consequence, heat, when J. established
the preparation room on the top storey of Fawcetfs Building,
and the Professor first saw the new specimens all complete and
set up. When so seen there was often acquiescence and in
many cases approval.
During the quarter of a century that J. was Superintendent
he relied largely on two servants : one, William Stubbings, who
has been mentioned more than once ; the other, Walter Robin-
son, upon whom a pension was conferred by the Syndicate the
year J. left. Both were devoted to J., whose interest in their
work never flagged, and when he had retired to the Registry he
still kept this interest, and would drop in for a few minutes
three or four times a week to see what skeleton Ernest Lane,
the successor of Stubbings, was articulating, or what spirit
specimen Arthur Corby, who had been recently appointed to
mount the Invertebrates, was preparing, and generally to over-
look what was going on.
» See p. 260.
APPENDIX II
J. AS SECRETARY TO THE MUSEUMS AND LECTURE
ROOMS SYNDICATE
When I first remember J. at the Museums in 1881 he had
a double function. He was Superintendent of the Museum
of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, and he was Secretary
to the Museums and Lecture Rooms Syndicate. The Museums
and Lecture Rooms Syndicate had been instituted in 1866, and
it was then a most auojust bod v. The followincr were its first
members: Dr. James Cartmell, V.C, Master of Christ's Col-
lege ; Dr. H. W. Cookson, Master of Peterhouse ; Dr. W. H.
Bateson, Master of St. John's College; Professor (later Sir)
George E. Paget; Professor (later Sir) George G. Stokes;
Professor G. D. Liveing ; Dr. S. G. Phear, afterwards Master
of Emmanuel ; Mr. J. Power, afterwards Master of Pembroke;
and Mr. J. W. Clark,
I have related elsewhere how I first met J., who in the early
eighties was a kind of maid-of-all-work at the Museums, collect-
ing fees for other people, helping to organise new departments,
looking after his Museum, arranging the Philosophical Library,
correcting what he used to call the " grosser errors " in the
English of the Reports and other documents sent in by the
several Professors or Curators, settling little disputes between
Departments, and generally " keeping things going." The
collection of lecture fees occasionally led to misunderstandings.
I well remember a Trinity undergraduate, of a genial and
chatty disposition, who having paid down his three guineas for
Foster's Lectures, said as he was leaving the room, " I suppose
you make a pretty good thing out of this. Sir ! "
I was first put on the Museums and Lecture Rooms Syndicate
294
y, and the T^rofessors 295
in 1889, and being comparatively new to University business I
found the work interesting but at times quite bewildering. The
meetings were often long and almost always lively. In the
days when J. was Secretary, the plan ot allowing each Depart-
ment an annual sum — in fact a budget — had not been devised,
and each bill of each Department — there were far fewer then ^ —
was brought before the Syndicate and solemnly considered.
We all tried to be intelligent, and to consider whether
or not such an expenditure by the particular Department was
justifiable; as a rule we thought it was, and then the Vice-
Chancellor initialled the account. After a certain moment J.
suddenly announced that we had exhausted the money at our
disposal, and I supposed the uninitialled bills went back to those
who had sent them in.
J, kept us all going by his running comments on men and
things, especially on those whom he considered to be what he
called " advanced." He used to affect a certain mild con-
tempt for professors, a feeling which no one who had not
been born of one and spent his childhood surrounded by others
could possibly entertain. He enjoyed correcting their English
and their orthography, and I think he enjoyed still more
letting the Syndicate know that he had done so. On one
occasion I well remember his blurting out, " Of course, Professor
Z. behaved with his usual c — .'"' Whether it was "care-
lessness " or " casualness " we shall never know, for the revered
Vice-Chancellor, who was sleeping in the Chair, caught him on
the initial C with a sonorous " Courtesy," and this without
the intermission of a single nod.
As Secretary to the Syndicate J. had much to do with the
management of two most useful funds : the Reserve Fund,
which was established in 1883 to meet emergencies and to
provide apparatus unexpectedly wanted ; and the Microscope
Fund, founded by the University in 1884 to provide certain
Departments with simple and compound microscopes. He was
also titular Librarian of the Philosophical Library, and a most
^ I mean Departments, not bills.
296 y. as Secretary to the [Museums
generous benefactor to that institution. The first time the
Philosophical Library Committee published a list of gifts in the
Annual Report of 1881, the number of publications, many of
them in series, given by J. occupies three and a half pages of
the Reporter.
From his lifelong connexion with the University J. had a
remarkable knowledge and grasp of procedure. He knew
exactly what you could do and what you could not do, and it