i8 9 6. PROFESSOR HUXLEY. 165 



tion of animals, is, perhaps, the most brilliant sketch of animal 

 morphology ever written : it was published more than thirty years 

 ago, and is now, of course, quite out of date, but there is still 

 much refreshment to be had from its perusal, especially in the enjoy- 

 ment of the novel sensation of finding a writer of scientific text-books 

 with a style. The second part, on the vertebrate skull, is equally 

 striking as a detailed exposition of a limited, but complex, problem : 

 some parts of it are as readable as his popular essays, and in the rest 

 anatomy was surely never made so interesting. 



The " Vertebrated Animals," though published nearly five-and- 

 twenty years ago, still remains, so far as conception and mode of 

 treatment are concerned, the best elementary work on the subject. 

 It is clearly and logically arranged, and, while keeping the generalisa- 

 tions of the subject always in view, never fails to give that attention 

 to the details of anatomy without which any statement of principles 

 and theories is absolutely valueless to the student. The " Inverte- 

 brated Animals "is a far less satisfactory book ; it is uneven and in 

 many ways ill-arranged, and enjoys the distinction of being one of the 

 worst illustrated books of its kind. But all its faults are redeemed 

 by the masterly introductory chapter — one of the sanest, most 

 luminous, and most philosophical essays ever written on the general 

 principles of biology. 



As professor, Huxley's rule was characterised by what is 

 undoubtedly the best policy for the head of a department. To a 

 new subordinate " The General," as he was always called, was 

 rather stern and exacting, but when once he was convinced that his 

 man was to be trusted he practically let him take his own course ; 

 never interfered in matters of detail, accepted suggestions with the 

 greatest courtesy and good humour, and was always ready with a 

 kindly or humorous word of encouragement in times of difficulty. 

 I was once grumbling to him about how hard it was to carry on the 

 work of the laboratory through a long series of November fogs, 

 " when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared." " Never 

 mind, Parker," he said, instantly capping my quotation ; "cast four 

 anchors out of the stern and wish for day." 



To many people Huxley appeared hard and unsympathetic, but 

 never to those who saw beneath the surface. Like most men of 

 strong individuality, there were certain kinds of people who excited 

 his strongest prejudices, and when he thoroughly disliked anyone he 

 took no pains to hide his feelings. He once said to my father: "You're 

 a Christian, I'm a pagan; you say 'love your enemies'; I say 

 ' love your friends and hate your enemies,' and I do hate them.''' To 

 parody a well-known saying — " he hated a bore, he hated a prig, and 

 he hated a parson : he was a very good hater." Naturally, therefore, 

 in his utterances about people and opinions he disliked, he sometimes 

 showed, like Luther, a certain " gottliche Brutalitat " ; but the half 

 humorous way in which he usually delivered himself of his denunciations 



