i850 SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE 6l 



Commander Yule, who had succeeded Captain Stanley in 

 the command of the ship, wrote to the head of the Naval 

 Medical Department stating the circumstances under which 

 Huxley's zoological investigations had been undertaken, and 

 asking the sanction of the Admiralty for their publication. 

 The hydrographer, in sending the formal permission, says : — 



But I have to add that their Lordships will not allow any 

 charge to be made upon the public funds towards the expense. 

 You will, however, further assure Mr. Huxley that any assist- 

 ance that can be supplied from this office shall be most cheer- 

 fully given to him, and that I heartily hope, from the capacity 

 and taste for scientific investigation for which you give him 

 credit, that he will produce a work alike creditable to himself, 

 to his late Captain, by whom he was selected for it, and to Her 

 Majesty's service. 



Personally, the hydrographer took a great interest in 

 science ; but as for the department, Huxley somewhat bit- 

 terly interpreted the official meaning of this well-sounding 

 flourish to be made : " Publish if you can, and give us credit 

 for granting every facility except the one means of pub- 

 lishing." 



Happily there was another way of publishing, if the 

 Admiralty would grant him time to arrange his papers and 

 superintend their publication. The Royal Society had at 

 their disposal an annual grant of money for the publication 

 of scientific works. If the Government would not con- 

 tribute directly to publish the researches made under their 

 auspices, the favourable reception which his preliminary 

 papers had met with led Huxley to hope that his greater 

 work would be undertaken by the Royal Society. If the 

 leading men of science attested the value of his work, the 

 Admiralty might be induced to let him stay in England with 

 the nominal appointment as assistant surgeon to H.M.S. 

 Fisguard at Woolwich, for " particular service," but with 

 leave of absence from the ship so that he could live and 

 pursue his avocations in London. There was a precedent 

 for this course in the case of Dr. Hooker, when he had to 

 work out the scientific results of the voyage of the Erebus 

 and Terror. 



