INTRODUCTION, 



The following remarkable discourse was originally delivered in 

 Edinburg, November i8th, 1868, as the first of a series of Sunday 

 evening addresses, upon non-religious topics, instituted by the Rev. 

 J. Cranbrook. It was subsequently published in London as the 

 leading article in the Fortnightly Review, for February, 1869, and at- 

 tracted so much attention that five editions of that number of the 

 magazine have already been issued. It is now re-printed in this 

 country, in permanent form, for the first time, and will doubtless 

 prove of great interest to American readers. The author is 

 Thomas Henry Huxley, of London, Professor of Natural History 

 in the Royal School of Mines, and of Comparative Anatomy and 

 Physiology in the Royal College of Surgeons. He is also Presi- 

 dent of the Geological Society of London. Although comparatively 

 a young man, his numerous and valuable contributions to Natural 

 Science entitle him to be considered one of the first of living Nat- 

 uralists, especially in the departments of Zoology and Paleontol- 

 ogy, to which he has mainly devoted himself. He is undoubtedly 

 the ablest English advocate of Darwin's theory of the Origin of 

 Species, particularly with reference to its application to the human 

 race, which he believes to be nearly related to the higher apes. It 

 is, indeed, through his discussion of this question that he is, per- 

 haps, best known to the general public, as his late work entitled 

 " Man's Place in Nature," and other writings on similar topics, 

 have been very widely read in this country and in Europe. In the 

 present lecture Professor Huxley discusses a kindred subject of no 

 less interest and importance, and should have an equally candid 

 hearing. 



YALE COLLEGE, March 30^, 1869. 



