Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 1Huxley, Thomas Henry
Science
Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 1
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895; Naturalists -- England -- Biography
1. On the Hydrostatic Acalephae; 2. On the genus Sagitta, both published
in the "Report of the British Association" for 1851; 3. On Lacinularia
socialis, a contribution to the anatomy and physiology of the Rotifera,
in the "Transactions of the Microscopical Society" 4. On Thalassicolla,
a new zoophyte, in the "Annals of Natural History." Next year he read
before the British Association a paper entitled "Researches into the
Structure of the Ascidians," and a very important one on the Morphology
of the Cephalous Mollusca, afterwards published in the "Philosophical
Transactions." In addition he had prepared a great part of his longer
work for publication; out of twenty-four or twenty-five plates, nineteen
were ready for the engraver when he wrote his appeal to the Duke of
Northumberland. In this same year, 1852, he was also awarded the Royal
Medal in Physiology for the value of his contributions to the
"Philosophical Transactions."
In 1853, besides seeing some of these papers through the press, he
published one on the existence of Cellulose in the Tunic of Ascidians,
read before the Microscopical Society, and two papers on the Structure
of the Teeth; the latter, of course, like a paper of the previous year
on Echinococcus, being distinct from the "Rattlesnake" work. The greater
work on Oceanic Hydrozoa, over which the battle of the grant in aid had
been waged so long, did not see the light until 1858, when his interest
had been diverted from these subjects, and to return to them was more a
burden than a pleasure.
In the second place, the years 1851-53, so full of profitless successes
in pure science, and delusive hopes held out by the Government, were
marked by an equally unsuccessful series of attempts to obtain a
professorship. If a chair of Natural History had been established, as he
hoped, in the projected university at Sydney, he would gladly have stood
for it. Sydney was a second home to him; he would have been backed by
the great influence of Macleay; and in his eyes a naturalist could not
desire a finer field for his labours than the waters of Port Jackson.
But this was not to be, and the first chair he tried for was the
newly-instituted chair of Zoology at the University of Toronto. The
vacancy was advertised in the summer of 1851; the pay of full 300 pounds
sterling a year was enough to marry on; his friends reassured him as to
his capacity to fill the post, which, moreover, did not debar him from
the hope of returning some day to fill a similar post in England.]
1 Edward Street, St. John's Wood Terrace,
July 29 [1851].
My dear Henfrey,
I have been detained in town, or I hope we should long since have had
our projected excursion.
What do you think of my looking out for a Professorship of Natural
History at Toronto? Pay 350 pounds sterling, with chances of extra fees.
I think that out there one might live comfortably upon that
sum--possibly even do the domestic and cultivate the Loves and Graces as
well as the Muses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account