The Oceanic Hydrozoa; A Description Of The Calycophoridae And Physophoridae Observed During The Voyage Of H.M.S. Rattlesnake In The Years 1846-1850. With A General Introduction. Huxley, Thomas Henry

Folio (36.2 x 26.2 cm). x, 143 pp.; 12 engraved plates with explanatory text leaves, a few text figures. Original quarter linen over limp boards. Printed label with title mounted on front board. = Written by Darwin's Bulldog, the zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), who was a ship's assistant surgeon and naturalist on board of HMS Rattlesnake. The Rattlesnake charted the Great Barrier Reef and the seas northwards to New Guinea. Huxley's paper On the anatomy and the affinities of the family of Medusae' was published in 1849 by the Royal Society in its Philosophical Transactions. Huxley united the Hydroid and Sertularian polyps with the Medusae to form a class to which he subsequently gave the name of Hydrozoa. The connection he made was that all the members of the class consisted of two cell layers, enclosing a central cavity or stomach. This is characteristic of the phylum now called the Cnidaria. He compared this feature to the serous and mucous structures of embryos of higher animals. When at last he got a grant from the Royal Society for the printing of plates, Huxley was able to summarise this work in The Oceanic Hydrozoa, published by the Ray Society in 1859'. The value of Huxley's work was recognised and, on returning to England in 1850, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the following year, at the age of twenty-six, he not only received the Royal Society Medal but was also elected to the Council (Wikipedia). On the front pastedown an armorial bookplate of the Rashleigh family Menabilly. At least one Rashleigh, Jonathan junior (1845-1872) was interested in marine biology. A penciled annotation on the Ray Society title. Boards and spine a bit worn at edges; text and plates mostly clean. A very good copy now housed in a custom slipcase with paper label. A wonderful copy in the original publisher's state. Nissen ZBI, 2065.