viii INTRODUCTION 



reading Carlyle, and of his pondering over a classifica- 

 tion of knowledge. In this journal, his biographer says: 

 "The boy displays three habits afterwards characteristic 

 of the man: the habit of noting down any striking thought 

 or saying he came across in the course of his reading; of 

 speculating on the causes of things and discussing the right 

 and wrong of existing institutions; and of making scientific 

 experiments, using them to correct his theories." 



At sixteen he began both to study medicine with one 

 of his brothers-in-law, a doctor, and to prepare for the 

 entrance examinations to the University of London. In 

 1842 he and his brother obtained free scholarships in the 

 Charing Cross Hospital and Medical College. Of his 

 work here he tells in the Autobiography, mentioning his 

 first scientific paper. This little paper was the account 

 of his discovery of a new membrane at the base of the 

 hair, since known as Huxley's layer. For a young medical 

 student even this small discovery was a notable achievement. 



When he had finished his medical course, Huxley secured 

 an appointment as Assistant Surgeon in the British Navy. 

 After a few months' service in a naval hospital he was 

 assigned to the ship Rattlesnake, in commission for survey 

 work in Australian waters. On this cruise, in addition 

 to his regular duties, Huxley was expected to assist the 

 naturalist of the expedition. 



The ship sailed in 1846 and was away four years. But 

 these were years of importance for the young scientist, 

 the value of which Professor Virchow has summed up as 

 follows: ''When Huxley himself left Charing Cross Hospital 

 in 1846, he had enjoyed a rich measure of instruction in 

 anatomy and physiology. Thus trained, he took the post 

 of naval surgeon, and by the time he returned four years 

 later, he had become a perfect zoologist and a keen-sighted 



