8o LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY chap, vl 



means permit, by the publication of a " Memoir upon the Homol- 

 ogies of the Cephalous Mollusca," with four plates, which ap- 

 peared in the Philosophical Transactions for 1852 (published 

 1853), being the. fourth memoir resulting from the observations 

 made during the voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake which has ap- 

 peared in these Transactions. 



I have the pleasure of being able to add that the President 

 and Council of the Royal Society have considered these memoirs 

 worthy of being rewarded by the Royal Medal in Physiology 

 for 1852, which they did me the honour to confer in the Novem- 

 ber of that year. 



I regret that no definite answer of any kind having as yet 

 been given to the strong representations which were made by the 

 Presidents both of the Royal Society and of the British Associa- 

 tion in 1852 to H.M. Government — representations which have 

 recently been earnestly repeated — in order to obtain a grant for 

 the purpose of publishing the remainder of these researches in 

 a separate form, I have been unable to proceed any further, 

 and I beg to request a renewal of my leave of absence from 

 H.M.S. Fisguard, so that if H.M. Government think fit to give 

 the grant applied for, it may be in my power to make use of it; 

 or that, should it be denied, I may be enabled to find some other 

 means of preventing the total loss of the labour of some years. 



Hereupon he was allowed six months longer, but with 

 the intimation that no further leave would be granted. A 

 final application from the scientific authorities resulted in 

 fresh inquiries as to the length of time still required, and the 

 deadlock between the two departments of State being un- 

 changed, he replied to the same effect as before, but to no 

 purpose. His formal application for leave in January 1854 

 was met by orders to join the Illustrious at Portsmouth. 

 He appealed to the Admiralty that this appointment might 

 be cancelled, giving a brief summary of the facts, and 

 pointing out that it was the inaction of the Treasury which 

 had absolutely prevented him from completing his work. 



I would therefore respectfully submit that, under these cir- 

 cumstances, my request to be permitted to remain on half-pay 

 until the completion of the publication of the results of some 

 years' toil is not wholly unreasonable. It is the only reward for 

 which I would ask their Lordships, and indeed, considering the 

 distinct pledge given in the minute to which I have referred, 



