Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And WorkMitchell, P. Chalmers (Peter Chalmers), Sir
Science
Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work
Mitchell, P. Chalmers (Peter Chalmers), Sir
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895
The group, and Huxley's conception of its
structure, are now absolutely accepted by anatomists, and have made
one of the corner-stones of our modern idea of the arrangement of the
animal kingdom. With the exception of sponges, concerning the exact
relations of which there is still dispute, and of a few sets of
parasitic and possibly degenerate creatures, all animals, the bodies
of which are multicellular, from the simple fresh-water hydra up to
man, are divided into two great groups. The structure of the simpler
of these groups is exactly what Huxley found to be of importance in
the Medusæ. The body wall, from which all the organs protrude,
consists merely of a web of cells arranged in two sheets or membranes,
and the single cavity consists of a central stomach, surrounded by
these membranes, the cavity remaining simple or giving rise to a
number of branching canals. The members of this great division of the
animal kingdom are the creatures which Huxley selected and placed
together, with the addition of the sea-anemones and the medusa-like
Ctenophora, which, indeed, he mentioned in his memoir as being related
to the others, but reserved fuller consideration for a future
occasion. This group is now called the Cœlenterata, the name
implying that the creatures are simply hollow stomachs, and it is
contrasted in the strongest way with the group Cœlomata, in which
are placed all the higher animals, from the simplest worm up to man;
animals in which, in addition to the two foundation-membranes of the
Cœlenterata, there is a third foundation-membrane, and in which, in
addition to the simple stomach cavity with its offshoots, there is a
true body-cavity or cœlome, and usually a set of spaces and
channels containing a blood-fluid. The older method of naming groups
of animals after some obvious superficial character lingered on for
some years in text-books and treatises, but in this memoir the young
ship-surgeon had replaced it by the modern scientific method of
grouping animals together only because of real identity of structure.
There is yet left to be noticed perhaps the most wonderful of all the
ideas in this first memoir by Huxley. In the course of describing the
two foundation membranes of the Medusæ he remarks:
"It is curious to remark, that throughout, the outer and inner
membranes appear to bear the same physiological relation to one
another as do the serous and mucous layers of the germ: the outer
becoming developed into the muscular system, and giving rise to
the organs of offence and defence: the inner on the other hand
appearing to be more closely subservient to the purposes of
nutrition and generation."
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account