The Present Condition of Organic Nature Lecture I. (of VI.), "Lectures to Working Men", at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863, on Darwin's Work: "Origin of Species"

"The Present Condition of Organic Nature" by Thomas Henry Huxley is a lecture series given in the 1860s, that closely examines Charles Darwin's ideas on the origin of species. Huxley uses detailed study of biological concepts, such as a deep look into the anatomy of life using the horse as an example, to show how living things are connected and how they relate to non-living things. He explains how all living things, from plants to animals, start as simple cells and grow into complex forms, demonstrating life's circle of growth and decay. By talking about the shared traits in how living things are made, Huxley makes the point that the variety of life comes from changes to a basic, shared design, and that life is a constantly revolving cycle of absorption, transformation, and decay, dictated by natural laws.