The weather continues cloudy and mild. Soon after breakfast I went with my son Henry to the British Museum. We asked for Professor Owen who came forward and showed us through the rooms of natural history, especially the remarkable collection of fossils, thence into the reading room and library, and thence into the department of ancient art. Of course the examination could only be of the most cursory kind. And the numismatics which I most desired to see I did not even think to ak for, on account of the length of time they would require. The collection is enormous, and it grows at a rate to make it difficult to keep up with it in space. Indeed it threatens to be too large for utility. It is now proposed to separate the natural science, and devote to that five acres at Kensington, whilst literature and the arts should remain in Bloomsbury. I am glad to have seen only the little that could be examined today. After luncheon which was late I went out with Mrs Adams, and we paid a formal visit at Buckingham palace, and I left my name at the Duke of Cambridge’s. In the evening Mrs Adams and I with Henry went by invitation to dine with Mr and Mrs Bentsen, person recommended by Dr Howe. We found there only Mr and Mrs Lehman relations. The house is elegantly fitted up, and the entertainment was sumptuous. His Library is very handsome. They are cultivated people. Home a little after ten.312