22 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



organisms, and of which Sir Michael Foster justly states 

 that it was, — 



" a paper which more than one young physiologist at the time 

 read with delight, and which even to-day may be studied with 

 no little profit," and that " he, in this subject, as in others, drove 

 the sword of rational inquiry through the heart of conceptions, 

 metaphysical and transcendental, but dominant." (Obituary 

 Notice, Proc. Roy. Soc, lix, 1895-6, p. lv). 



The Friday Evening Discourse " On the Identity of 

 Structure of Plants and Animals," delivered to the Royal 

 Institution, April 15, 1853, is practically a lecture on the 

 same theme (Proc. Roy. Inst., i, 1851-4, pp. 298-302; 

 and Edinburgh New Philos. J., liii, 1852, pp. 172-7. 

 Sci. Mem., i, xx, p. 216). 



During these years of stress Huxley not only estab- 

 lished his reputation as a scientific investigator, and 

 commenced his career as a lecturer, but also laid the 

 foundation of that literary style which ultimately gave 

 him a prominent position in the world of letters. To 

 the Westminster %eview he regularly contributed the 

 article on "Contemporary Science," was commissioned 

 to write a Manual on Comparative Anatomy for Messrs. 

 Churchill, and so on. He estimated in fact that by 

 means of his pen alone he was in the position to earn 

 about £250 per annum, more than his Navy pay, and 

 was therefore able to regard the decision of the Admir- 

 alty with comparative equanimity, and prepared, if 

 necessary, to wait in the hope that some congenial scien- 

 tific post might fall to his lot. 



Just as Huxley's inimitable powers as a lecturer were 

 very largely the result of the most painstaking cultiva- 

 tion, so also with his literary style. Comparatively few 

 were privileged to hear him speak, but his writings have 

 been and will remain a source of pleasure as well as 



