CHAPTER XVII 



CLOSING DAYS AND SUMMARY 



Huxley's Life iu Londou — Decennial Periods — Ill-health — Re- 

 tirement to Eastbourne — Death — Personal Appearance — 

 Methods of Work — Personal Characteristics— An Inspirer 

 of Others — His Influence in Science — A Naturalist by 

 Vocation — His Aspirations. 



HUXLEY'S life followed the quiet and even tenor of 

 that of a professional man of science and letters. 

 The great adventure in it was his j'outhful voj^age on 

 the Rattlesnake. That over, and his choice made in 

 favour of science as against medicine, he settled down 

 in Eondon. He married happily and shared in the 

 common joys and sorrows of domestic life. Advance- 

 ment came to him steadily, and, althottgh he was never 

 rich, after the first few years of life in London, his in- 

 come was always adequate to his moderate needs. For 

 the greater part of his working life, he lived actually in 

 London, in the ordinary style and with the ordinary 

 social enjoyments of a professional man. His duties in 

 connection with the Royal College of Science and with 

 the Geological Survey were not arduous but constant ; 

 his time was ftilly occupied with these, with his scien- 

 tific and literary work, with the business of scientific 



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