1860 



HUXLEY'S ACCOUNT 271 



taining views which were contradictory to the First 

 Chapter of Genesis. 



Sir John Lubbock declared that many of the arguments 

 by which the permanence of species was supported came 

 to nothing, and instanced some wheat which was said to 

 have come off an Egyptian mummy, and was sent to him 

 to prove that wheat had not changed since the time of the 

 Pharaohs ; but which proved to be made of French choco- 

 late. Sir Joseph (then Dr.) Hooker, spoke shortly, saying 

 that he had found the hypothesis of Natural Selection so 

 helpful in explaining the phenomena of his own subject 

 of Botany, that he had been constrained to accept it. 

 After a few words from Darwin's old friend, Professor 

 Henslow, who occupied the chair, the meeting broke 

 up, leaving the impression that those most capable of 

 estimating the arguments of Darwin in detail saw their 

 way to accept his conclusions. 



Note. Sir John Lubbock also insisted on the embryo- 

 logical evidence for evolution. F. D. 



T. H. HUXLEY TO FRANCIS DARWIN (ibid.) 



June 27, 1891. 



I should say that Fremantle's account is substantially 

 correct, but that Green has the substance of my speech 

 more accurately. However, I am certain I did not use 

 the word " equivocal." 



The odd part of the business is, that I should not 

 have been present except for Robert Chambers. I had 

 heard of the Bishop's intention to utilise the occasion. 

 I knew he had the reputation of being a first-class 

 controversialist, and I was quite aware that if he played 

 his cards properly, we should have little chance, with 

 such an audience, of making an efficient defence. More- 

 over, I was very tired, and wanted to join my wife at 

 her brother-in-law's country house near Reading, on the 



