6 Teachings or Thomas Huxley 



nted a share of mental pabulum that strength- 

 ened permanently the mind of the omnivorous 

 reader. In metaphysics he took special de- 

 light and proved his allegiance to the ancient 

 schools of philosophy by wondering what would 

 become of things if their qualities were taken 

 away. 



Not every youth of nineteen has the good 

 fortune to make discoveries in pathological 

 work, but at this age Huxley described the 

 microscopical anatomy of a layer of cells in 

 the hair follicle which is still known as Hux- 

 ley's layer and is described in every modern 

 text-book of Histology. While a student in 

 Charing Cross Hospital medals were awarded 

 him for excellence in Botany, Chemistry, An- 

 atomy and Physiology. The University of 

 London gave him the M.B. degree in 1845, but 

 as he was still too young to qualify at the Col- 

 lege of Surgeons he began to cast about for 

 something to do in the meantime, when he was 

 advised to address the Director-General of the 

 Navy for a position in Her Majesty's service. 

 This was. granted after due examination and 

 Huxley began his first real work on board the 

 "Rattlesnake" amid many hardships and pri- 

 vations, but reaping therefrom no end of valu- 

 able experience and contributing from his re- 

 searches such important information regarding 

 the flora and fauna of the deep sea that his 

 papers were published in the transactions of 



