HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 339 



and species work was a burden to me. What I cared for was the 

 architectural and engineering part of the business; the working out the 

 wonderful unity of plan in the thousands and thousands of diverse liv- 

 ing constructions, and the modifications of similar apparatus to serve 

 diverse ends." 



In 1846 Huxley was appointed naturalist to the expedition which 

 was sent to the East under Captain Owen Stanley in the Rattlesnake, 

 and good use, indeed, he made of his opportunities. It is really wonder- 

 ful, as Sir M. Foster remarks in his excellent obituary notice in the 

 Eoyal Society's 'Proceedings,' how he could have accomplished so much 

 under such difficulties. 



"Working," says Sir Michael Foster, "amid a host of difficulties, in 

 want of room, in want of light, seeking to unravel the intricacies of 

 minute structure with a microscope lashed to secure steadiness, cramped 

 within a tiny cabin, jostled by the tumult of a crowded ship's life, with 

 the scantiest supply of books of reference, with no one at hand of whom 

 he could take counsel on the problems opening up before him, he 

 gathered for himself during those four years a large mass of accurate, 

 important and, in most cases, novel observations, and illustrated them 

 with skilful, pertinent drawings." 



The truth is that Huxley was one of those all-round men who would 

 have succeeded in almost any walk in life. In literature his wit, his 

 power of clear description and his admirable style would certainly have 

 placed him in the front rank. 



He was as ready with his pencil as with his pen. Every one who 

 attended his lectures will remember how admirably they were illustrated 

 by his blackboard sketches, and how the diagrams seemed to grow line 

 by line almost of themselves. Drawing was, indeed, a joy to him, and 

 when I have been sitting with him at Eoyal Commissions or on commit- 

 tees, he was constantly making comical sketches on scraps of paper or on 

 blotting-books which, though admirable, never seemed to distract his 

 attention from the subject on hand. 



Again, he was certainly one of the most effective speakers of the 

 day. Eloquence is a great gift, although I am not sure that the country 

 might not be better governed and more wisely led if the House of 

 Commons and the country were less swayed by it. There is no doubt, 

 however, that, to its fortunate possessor, eloquence is of great value, 

 and if circumstances had thrown Huxley into political life, no one can 

 doubt that he would have taken high rank among our statesmen. In- 

 deed, I believe his presence in the House of Commons would have been 

 of inestimable value to the country. Mr. Hutton, of the 'Spectator' — 

 no mean judge — has told us that, in his judgment, 'an abler and more 

 accomplished debater was not to be found even in the House of Com- 

 mons.' His speeches had the same quality, the same luminous style of 



