1 82 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY chap, xiii 



transitional forms, with all the confidence of youth and imper- 

 fect knowledge. I was not aware, at that time, that he had then 

 been many years brooding over the species-question; and the 

 humorous smile which accompanied his gentle answer, that such 

 was not altogether his view, long haunted and puzzled me. But 

 it would seem that four or five years' hard work had enabled 

 me to understand what it meant; for Lyell, writing to Sir 

 Charles Bunbury (under date of April 30, 1856), says: — 



"When Huxley, Hooker and WoUaston were at Darwin's 

 last week, they (all four of them) ran a tilt against species — 

 further, I believe, than they are prepared to go." 



I recollect nothing of this beyond the fact of meeting Mr. 

 Wqllaston; and except for Sir Charles's distinct assurance as 

 to " all four," I should have thought my outrecuidance was 

 probably a counterblast to Wollaston's conservatism. With re- 

 gard to Hooker, he was already, like Voltaire's Habbakuk, capa- 

 ble de tout in the way of advocating Evolution. 



As I have already said, I imagine that most of those of 

 my contemporaries who thought seriously about the matter, 

 were very much in my own state of mind — inclined to say 

 to both Mosaists and Evolutionists, " a plague on both your 

 houses ! " and disposed to turn aside from an interminable and 

 apparently fruitless discussion, to labour in the fertile fields of 

 ascertainable fact. And I may therefore suppose that the pub- 

 lication of the Darwin and Wallace paper in 1858, and still more 

 that of the " Origin " in 1859, had the effect upon them of the 

 flash of light which, to a man who has lost himself on a dark 

 night, suddenly reveals a road which, whether it takes him 

 straight home or not, certainly goes his way. That which we 

 were looking for, and could not find, was a hypothesis respect- 

 ing the origin of known organic forms which assumed the opera- 

 tion of no causes but such as could be proved to be actually at 

 work. We wanted, not to pin our faith to that or any other 

 speculation, but to get hold of clear and definite conceptions 

 which could be brought face to face with facts and have their 

 validity tested. The " Origin " provided us with the working 

 hypothesis we sought. Moreover, it did the immense service of 

 freeing us for ever from the dilemma — Refuse to accept the 

 creation hypothesis, and what have you to propose that can be 

 accepted by any cautious reasoner? In 1857 I had no answer 

 ready, and I do not think that anyone else had. A year later we 

 reproached ourselves with dulness for being perplexed with such 

 an inquiry. My reflection, when I first made myself master of 



