352 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. XVII 



It may turn out that I am quite wrong, and that there 

 are no x's or 20 x's. 



I am glad you appreciate the rich absurdities of the 

 new doctrine of spontogenesis [?]. Against the doctrine 

 of spontaneous generation in the abstract I have nothing 

 to say. Indeed it is a necessary corollary from Darwin's 

 views if legitimately carried out, and I think Owen smites 

 him (Darwin) fairly for taking refuge in " Pentateuchal " 

 phraseology when he ought to have done one of two 

 things (a) give up the problem, (6) admit the necessity 

 of spontaneous generation. It is the very passage in 

 Darwin's book to which, as he knows right well, I have 

 always strongly objected. The x of science and the x of 

 Genesis are two different x's, and for any sake don't let us 

 confuse them together. Maurice has sent me his book. 

 I have read it, but I find myself utterly at a loss to com- 

 prehend his point of view. Ever yours faithfully, 



T. H. HUXLEY. 



The following letter is interesting, as showing his 

 continued interest in the question of skull structure, 

 as well as his relation to his friend and fellow-worker, 

 Dr. W. K. Parker. 1 



JERMYN STREET, March 18, 1863. 



MY DEAR PARKER Any conclusion that I have 

 reached will seem to me all the better based for know- 

 ing that you have been near or at it, and I am therefore 

 right glad to have your letter. If I had only time, 

 nothing would delight me more than to go over your 

 preparations, but these Hunterian Lectures are about the 

 hardest bit of work I ever took in hand, and I am obliged 

 to give every minute to them. 



By and by I will gladly go with you over your vast 

 material. 



1 William Kitchin Parker, 1823-1890, a medical practitioner 

 and anatomist, Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy at 

 the Royal College of Surgeons, 1873. 



