1861 THE HIPPOCAMPUS 277 



of the Water-Babies. Of this fight Huxley writes to 

 Sir J. Hooker on April 18, 1861 : 



A controversy between Owen and myself, which I can 

 only call absurd (as there is no doubt whatever about the 

 facts), has been going on in the Athenceum, and I wound 

 it up in disgust last week. 



And again on April 27 : 



Owen occupied an entirely untenable position but I 

 am nevertheless surprised he did not try "abusing 

 plaintiffs attorney." The fact is he made a prodigious 

 blunder in commencing the attack, and now his only 

 chance is to be silent and let people forget the exposure. 

 I do not believe that in the whole history of science there 

 is a case of any man of reputation getting himself into 

 such a contemptible position. He will be the laughing- 

 stock of all the continental anatomists. 



Rolleston has a great deal of Oxford slough to shed, 

 but on that very ground his testimony has been of most 



especial service. Fancy that man telling Maskelyne 



that Rolleston's observations were entirely confirmatory 

 of Owen. 



About the same time he writes to his wife : 



April 16. People are talking a good deal about the 

 " Man and the Apes " question, and I hear that somebody, 

 I suspect Monckton Milnes, has set afloat a poetical squib 

 on the subject. J . . . Some think my winding-up too 

 strong, but I trust the day will never come when I shall 

 abstain from expressing my contempt for those who 

 prostitute Science to the Service of Error. At any rate I 



1 The squib in question, dated "the Zoological Gardens," and 

 signed "Gorilla," appeared in Punch for May 15, 1861, under a 

 picture of that animal, bearing the sign, "Am I a Man and a 

 Brother f " 



The concluding verses run as follows : 



