welfare as if they were baby-farmers.  We were left to the operation of the struggle for existence among ourselves, and bullying was the least of the ill practices current among us.  Almost the only cheerful reminiscence in connection with the place which arises in my mind is that of a battle which I had with one of my class-mates, who had bullied me until I could stand it no longer.  I was a very slight lad, but there was a wild-cat element in me which, when roused, made up for my lack of weight, and I licked my adversary effectually.  However, one of my first experiences of the extremely rough and ready nature of justice, as exhibited by the course of things in general, arose out of the fact that I—­the victor—­had a black eye, while he—­the vanquished—­had none, so that I got into disgrace and he did not.  One of the greatest shocks I ever received in my life was to be told, a dozen years afterwards by the groom who brought me my horse in a stable-yard in Sydney, that he was my quondam antagonist.  He had a long story of family misfortune to account for his position—­but at that time it was necessary to deal very cautiously with mysterious strangers in New South Wales, and on enquiry I found that the unfortunate young man had not only been ‘sent out,’ but had undergone more than one colonial conviction.”

Huxley was soon removed from school and continued his own education for several years, by reading of the most desultory sort.  His special inclinations were towards mechanical problems, and had he been able to follow his own wishes there is little doubt but that he would have entered on the profession of an engineer.  It is probable that there was a great deal more in his wishes than the familiar inclination of a clever boy to engineering.  All through the pursuit of anatomy, which was the chief business of his life, it was the structure of animals, the different modifications of great ground-plans which they presented, that interested him.  But the opportunity for engineering did not present itself, and at an exceedingly early age he began to study medicine.  Two brothers-in-law were doctors, and this accidental fact probably determined his choice.  In these days the study of medicine did not begin as now with a general and scientific education, but the young medical student was apprenticed to a doctor engaged in practice.  He was supposed to learn the compounding of drugs in the dispensary attached to the doctor’s consulting-room; to be taught the dressing of wounds and the superficial details of the medical craft while he pursued his studies in anatomy under the direction of the doctor.  Huxley’s master was his brother-in-law, Dr. Salt, a London practitioner, and he began his work when only twelve or thirteen years of age.  In this system everything depended upon the superior; under the careful guidance of a conscientious and able man it was possible for an apt pupil to learn a great deal of science and to become an expert in the treatment