Book Description

Excerpt from Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Vol. 4 The Journal of our Association cannot be allowed to appear without a few words in memory of our first President, the great naturalist and leader of Science, whom we all mourn. Huxley's studies in marine biology, and his position as a Government official, as well as his keen, practical common-sense, made his selection as a member of two Government Commissions on Fisheries (in 1863 and again in 1883) very appropriate. He did valuable work on those Commissions, and in 1881 was appointed, by Sir William Harcourt, to be Inspector of Salmon Fisheries. In 1883 he took an active part in the work of the International Fisheries Exhibition, and emphasized in an address given there, the fact that, whilst civilized man had brought all the resources of science to bear on the "harvest of the land," little or nothing had been done in the same spirit for the harvest of the sea." When, in 1884, the movement was set on foot for the foundation of the Marine Biological Association, Huxley, as President of the Royal Society, took the chair at the important meeting in the rooms of that Society, at which the Association was founded, and subsequently he consented to be the first President of the Association. With that thoroughness and conscientiousness which marked all his work, our President, though no longer in full health and vigour, attended regularly the meetings of the Council, and gave the most careful attention to the very onerous business which had to be discharged in the early days of the organization of the Association, and the building of the Plymouth Laboratory. His advice and direction were always valued in the highest degree by the Council, and his genial presence at our meetings was greatly appreciated, especially in view of the fact that he travelled from Eastbourne to London, in order to assist us. After seven years, when the laboratory was in full working order, he asked us, on the ground of his delicate health, to accept his resignation of the presidency, which, reluctantly, we did. The successful launching of our Association, the assistance given to it by the Government, by the City Companies, and by other public bodies, are mainly due to the one fact, that we had at our head a man so profoundly trusted as was I Professor Huxley. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.