HUX'LEY, THOMAS (1825-95). An English naturalist and comparative anatomist. Ile was born at Ealing, now a suburb of London, May 4, 1825. lie studied in the Medical School of Charing Cross Hospital, and in 1815 was graduated as ALB. and medalist at the University of London. Tn 1846 he was appointed assistant surgeon on the Rattlesnake of the Royal Navy, commanded by Capt. Owen Stanley, which was to survey the region of the Great Barrier Reef. east and north of Australia. Imbued with a passion for natural history. Huxley devoted him self to the study of the marine animals seen and collected during the four years of this survey service. his most important research. "On the Anatomy and the Affinity of . . the was published during his absence and placed its author in the front rank of biolo gists. Ile demonstrated that the body of the medusa is essentially built up of an inner and an outer membrane, which he asserted were the homologues of the two primary germinal layers in the vertebrate embryo. (See EmmtvoLowr.) This discovery stands at the basis of modern philosophical zoology, and of a true conception of the affinity of animals.
In 1850, on his return to England. Huxley be gan a hard struggle against adversity and dis couragement.. Disappointed in the hope that the Admiralty would provide for the publication of his notes and drawings. lie published the moro important in the Philosophical Transactions (1851). and in the same year was elected a fel low of the Royal Society, which in 1852 gave him its medal. In 1854 lie succeeded Edward Forbes as professor of natural history and paleontology at the Royal School of Mines. This was in the line of direct advancement, for his great ability as an educator and administrator, as well as in original research. brought him to many r • s of honor. such as, in 1855, the Fullerian professor ship of comparative anatomy at the Royal In stitution; in 1863, the Ilunterian professorship at the Royal College of Surgeons; in 1866, the presidency of the Ethnological Society; in 1869, the presidency of the Geological Society; in 1870, the presidency of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and a seat on the first school hoard of London; in 1871, the secretaryship of the Royal Society, of which he became president in 1883; in 1872, the lord rec torship of Aberdeen University; in 1881, the pro fessorship of biology in the Royal College of Science (an expansion of the earlier chair in the Royal School of Mines) ; in 1892 Privy Councilor.
Ile served on no fewer than ten royal commis sions, of which the most important were that of Inquiry into the Sea Fisheries (1864-65), and that on Scientific Instruction, and the Advance ment of Science (1870-75).
Huxley's gifts of exposition were as remark able as his powers of research. His scientific lec tures, like his papers, were models of clearness. as well as accuracy, and he was both cogent and eager in debate, and fascinating in popular address. In 1858 he delivered the 'Crooniate lec ture on the "Origin of the Vertebrate Skull," in which he disposed forever of the hypothesis that the skull is. homologically, an expanded section of the vertebral column. The very next year The Origin of Species was published. Convinced by its arguments, Huxley threw himself heart and soul into their support, adducing much telling corroboration from his own investigations. His series of lectures to London workingmen in 1860 had this for their theme, and did much to further the acceptance of the new doctrines. They were the basis of the powerful book Man's Place in Nature, and were succeeded by many addresses, essays, and debates, influential in in forming the public and overcoming both scientific objections and religious alarm. It may fairly be said that science as contained in the doctrines of organic evolution, and especially in the views of Darwin, is almost as much indebted to the lucid exposition and bold championship by Hux ley as to the originators of the theories. Never theless Huxley accepted Darwin's hypothesis of natural selection with a qualification. He pointed out the lack of evidence that any group of ani mals has, by variation and selective breeding, given rise to another group in the least degree infertile with the first; but he believed this objection might disappear under prolonged ob servation and experiment. As to Lamarek's theory of use-inheritance (q.v.). he declared, in 1890, his absolute disbelief. as the evidence then stood.