excepting Huxley. We heard many amusing tales of grave German 

 professors who made pilgrimages to Cambridge to consult the em- 

 bryological oracle and were scandalised to find a youth in white flan- 

 nels playing tennis. All their notions of academic dignity and propriety 

 were outraged. Nevertheless, they did not fail to appreciate at its true 

 value the quality of his work. As a lecturer, Balfour lacked the ease 

 and fluency and the beautiful English style which characterized Hux- 

 ley's classroom lectures. His delivery was somewhat hesitating and 

 repetitious, but his lectures were full of original and brilliant thought 

 and we were heartily sorry when they came to an end. 



Shortly after our arrival in Cambridge, Balfour suggested to Osborn 

 and myself that we should investigate the embryological development 

 of the Common Newt {Triton taeniatus), as the breeding season had 

 arrived and spawn could easily be obtained. At that time no one had 

 studied the development of the tailed Amphibia, while that of the frogs 

 and toads was already well known. This suggestion was gladly adopted 

 and, after collecting and preparing a sufficient number of the eggs, we 

 made a careful microscopic study of the material. So much that was 

 novel and important came out of these studies that we determined to 

 write a joint paper for publication in the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science. 



I don't remember whether this determination was spontaneous with 

 us, or whether Balfour suggested it. At all events, he heartily approved 

 of the plan and gave us all possible encouragement and assistance. In 

 the limited time at our disposal, the preparation of this paper meant a 

 lot of hard work, both in the writing of the text and making draw- 

 ings for the plates. Happily, we were able to complete the task before 

 leaving Cambridge and we read the proofs together in Dresden, the 

 following August. The paper appeared, "according to plan," in Oc- 

 tober and would seem to have filled a "long-felt v/ant," for it had a 

 very favourable reception and, for several years, was widely quoted 

 by investigators. An amusing illustration of this, which both pleased 

 and flattered me, occurred in the summer of 1881, when I had gone 

 back to Heidelberg, to finish the work which I began there in 1879. 

 DavidofI, a young Russian who had been Professor Biitschli's assistant, 

 gave a farewell Kneipe on the eve of his departure for Villa Franca. 

 The invitation to me was addressed: "Sir W. Scott (ohne Osborn)." 

 When I asked him the reason for this somewhat unusual form of ad- 

 dress, he replied: "Oh! I am so tired of the everlasting citations of 



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