250 ORIGIN OF SPECIES. [ch. xiii. 



The meeting of the British Association at Oxford in 

 1860 is famous for two pitched battles over the Origin of 

 Species. Both of them originated in unimportant papers. 

 On Thursday, June 28th, Dr. Daubeny of Oxford made a 

 communication to Section D : " On the final causes of the 

 sexuality of plants, with particular reference to Mr. Dar- 

 win's work on the Origin of Species." Mr. Huxley was 

 called on by the President, but tried (according to the 

 AthencBum report) to avoid a discussion, on the ground 

 " that a general audience, in which sentiment would unduly 

 interfere with intellect, was not the public before which 

 such a discussion should be carried on." However, the sub- 

 ject was not allowed to drop. Sir K. Owen (I quote from 

 the AthencBum, July 7th, 1860), who "wished to approach 

 this subject in the spirit of the philosopher," expressed his 

 " conviction that there were facts by which the public could 

 come to some conclusion with regard to the probabilities of 

 the truth of Mr. Darwin's theory." He went on to say that 

 the brain of the gorilla " presented more differences, as com- 

 pared with the brain of man, than it did when compared with 

 the brains of the very lowest and most problematical of the 

 Quadrumana." Mr. Huxley replied, and gave these asser- 

 tions a " direct and unqualified contradiction," pledging 

 himself to " justify that unusual procedure elsewhere," * a 

 pledge which he amply fulfilled. f On Friday there was 

 peace, but on Saturday 30th, the battle arose with redoubled 

 fury, at a conjoint meeting of three Sections, over a paper 

 by Dr. Draper of New York, on the " Intellectual develop- 

 ment of Europe considered with reference to the views of 

 Mr. Darwin." 



The following account is from an eye-witness of the 

 scene. 



" The excitement was tremendous. The Lecture-room, 

 in which it had been arranged that the discussion should be 

 held, proved far too small for the audience, and the meet- 

 ing adjourned to the Library of the Museum, which was 

 crammed to suffocation long before the champions entered 

 the lists. The numbers were estimated at from 700 to 

 1000. Had it been term-time, or had the general public 

 been admitted, it would have been impossible to have ac- 



eapitally, and understands well his subject. 1 Avish he had slapped [the 

 Edinburgh reviewer] a little bit harder." 



* Man's Place in Nature, by T. H. Huxley, 1863, p. 114. 



+ See the Nat. Hist. Pevietv, 1861. 



