240 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. XIII 



Indeed, in his 1857 notebook, I find jotted down 

 under the head of his paper on Pygocephalus (read 

 at the Geological Society), " an ti- progressive con- 

 fession of faith." Darwin was the more anxious, as, 

 when he first put pen to paper, he had fixed in his 

 mind three judges, by whose decision he determined 

 mentally to abide. These three were Lyell, Hooker, 

 and Huxley. If these three came round, partly 

 through the book, partly through their own reflec- 

 tions, he could feel that the subject was safe. " No 

 one," writes Darwin on November 13, "has read it, 

 except Lyell, with whom I have had much corre- 

 spondence. Hooker thinks him a complete convert, 

 but he does not seem so in his letters to me; but 

 is evidently deeply interested in the subject." And 

 again : " I think I told you before that Hooker is a 

 complete convert. If I can convert Huxley I shall 

 be content." (Life, vol. ii. p. 221.) 



On all three, the effect of the book itself, with its 

 detailed arguments and overwhelming array of evi- 

 dence, was far greater than that of previous 

 discussions. With one or two reservations as to the 

 logical completeness of the theory, Huxley accepted 

 it as a well-founded working hypothesis, calculated 

 to explain problems otherwise inexplicable. 



Two extracts from the chapter he contributed to 

 the Life of Darwin show very clearly his attitude 

 of mind when the Origin of Species was first 

 published : 



