INTRODUCTION ix 



the children, Huxley, in spite of delicate health, became a 

 member of the London School Board. His immediate ob- 

 ject was " to temper book-learning with something Servlce to 

 of the direct knowledge of Nature." His other pur- women and 

 poses were to secure a better physical training for 

 children and to give them a clearer understanding of social 

 and moral law. He did not believe, on the one hand, in 

 overcrowding the curriculum, but, on the other hand, he 

 " felt that all education should be thrown open to all that 

 each man might know to what state in life he was called " 

 Another statement of his purpose and beliefs is given by 

 Professor Gladstone, who says of his work on the board : 

 " He resented the idea that schools were to train either 

 congregations for churches or hands for factories. He was 

 on the Board as a friend of children. What he sought to 

 do for the child was for the child's sake, that it might live 

 a fuller, truer, worthier life." 



The immense amount of work which Huxley did in 

 these years told very seriously on his naturally weak con- 

 stitution. It became necessary for him finally vacations 

 for two successive years to stop work altogether. ateoad - 

 In 1872 he went to the Mediterranean and to Egypt. This 

 was a holiday full of interest for a man like Huxley who 

 looked upon the history of the world and man's place in 

 the world with a keen scientific mind. Added to this sci- 

 entific bent of mind, moreover, Huxley had a deep appre- 

 ciation for the picturesque in nature and life. Bits of de- 

 scription indicate his enjoyment in this vacation. He writes 

 of his entrance to the Mediterranean, "It was a lovely 

 morning, and nothing could be grander than Ape Hill on 

 one side and the Rock on the other, looking like great lions 

 or sphinxes on each side of a gateway." In Cairo, Huxley 

 found much to interest him in archaeology, geology, and 

 the every-day life of the streets. At the end of a month, he 

 writes that he is very well and very grateful to Old Nile 

 for all that he has done for him, not the least " for a whole 

 universe of new thoughts and pictures of life." The trip, 

 however, did no lasting good. In 1873 Huxley was again 

 very ill, but was under such heavy costs at this time that 



