40 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. II 



letter to his mother, written at Plymouth, where the 

 Rattlesnake put in after leaving Portsmouth. The 

 comparison with the ordinary quarters of an assistant- 

 surgeon, and the shifts to which a studious man 

 might be put in his endeavour to find a quiet spot to 

 work in, have a flavour of Mr. Midshipman Easy 

 about them to relieve the deplorable reality of his 

 situation : 



You will be very glad to know that I am exceedingly 

 comfortable here. My cabin has now got into tolerable 

 order, and what with my books which are, I am happy 

 to say, not a few my gay curtain and the spicy oilcloth 

 which will be down on the floor, looks most respectable. 

 Furthermore, although it is an unquestionably dull day, I 

 have sufficient light to write here, without the least 

 trouble, to read, or even if necessary, to use my microscope. 

 I went to see a friend of mine on board the Recruit the 

 other day, and truly I hugged myself when I compared 

 my position with his. The berth where he and seven 

 others eat their daily bread is hardly bigger than my 

 cabin, except in height and, of course, he has to sleep in 

 a hammock. My friend is rather an eccentric character, 

 and, being missed in the ship, was discovered the other 

 day reading in the main-top the only place, as he said, 

 sufficiently retired for study. And this is really no ex- 

 aggeration. If I had no cabin, I should take to drinking 

 in a month. 



It was during this period of waiting that he 

 attended his first meeting of the British Association, 

 which was held in 1846 at Southampton. Here he 

 obtained from Professor Edward Forbes one of his 

 living specimens of Amphioxus lanceolatus, and made 



