122 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



believe that nothing would tend so effectually to get rid of these 

 creations of idleness, weariness, and that ' over-stimulation of 

 the emotions,' which, in plainer-spoken days, used to be called 

 wantonness, than a fair share of healthy work, directed towards 

 a definite object, combined with an equally fair share of healthy 

 play, during the years of adolescence ; and those who are best 

 acquainted with the requirements of an average medical practi- 

 tioner will find it hardest to believe that the attempt to reach 

 that standard is like to prove exhausting to an ordinarily 

 intelligent and well-educated young woman." 



One curious piece of work done in 1 874 was the writ- 

 ing of a report (dated January 27) on a spiritualistic 

 shnce attended, the conclusion being reached that this 

 was an unmitigated fraud. He had investigated the 

 subject in previous years. 



For some time Huxley, in conjunction with W. K. 

 Parker, had been busily engaged in working at the 

 structure of the skull, a subject in which he had long 

 been interested {cf. p. 40). The following scientific 

 memoirs of 1874 were mostly on this subject. 



1. " On the Structure of the Skull and of the Heart 

 of Menobranchus lateralis" (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1874, PP* 

 186-204. Read March 17, 1874. ^^^' Mem., iv, i, p. i). 



2. "Note on the Development of the Columella Auris 

 in the Amphibia (Nature, xi, 1875, PP- 68-9. Read at 

 the Brit. Assoc, Belfast, August 25, 1874. Sci. Mem., 

 iv, II, p. 23). 



3. "Preliminary Note upon the Brain and Skull of 

 Amphioxus lanceolatus" (Proc. Roy. Soc, xxiii, 1875, 

 pp. 127-32. Received December 17, 1874. ^^'' 

 Mem., iv, iii, p. 26). 



4. " On the Bearing of the Distribution of the 

 Portio Dura upon the Morphology of the Skull " (Proc. 

 Phil. Soc, Cambridge, ii, 1876, pp. 348-51. Read 

 May II, 1874. Sci. Mem., iv, iv, p. 32). 



