REMINISCENCES OF HUXLEr. 7^] 



there may be of error in the opposite direction; thus wo sluill at least 

 avoid the one unpardonable sin. Such, I think, was the shape which 

 the case assumed in Huxley's mind. To me it takes a very dillcivnl 

 shape; but 1 can not help feeling- that mankind is going to he helped 

 by such stanch intellectual integrity as his far more than it is going to 

 be helped by consoling doctrines of whatever sort; and thercfoiv^his 

 nol)le self-abnegation, even though it may have l)een greater than was 

 called for, is worthy of most profound and solemn homage. 



But we did not spend the whole of the evening in the little library. 

 Brierwood and Havana at length gave out, and the drawing-room had 

 its claims upon us. There was a fondness for music in the family, and 

 it was no unusual thing for us to gather around the piano and sing 

 psalms, after which there would perhaps be a Beethoven sonata, or 

 one of Chopin's nocturnes, or perhaps a song. 1 can never forget the 

 rich contralto voice of one bright and charming daughter, since passed 

 awa}^, or the refrain of an old-fashioned song Avhich she sometimes 

 sang about "My love, that loved me long ago." From nuisic it was 

 an easy transition to scraps of Browning or Goethe, leading to \ai-i()us 

 disijuisitions. Of mirth and ])adinage there was always plenty. 1 dare 

 sa}^ there w^as not another room in London where so much exuberant 

 nonsense might have been heard. It is no unconunon thing for masters 

 of the Queen's English to delight in torturing it, and Huxley enjoyed 

 that sort of pastime as much as James liussell Lowell. '• Smole" and 

 "declone" were specimens of the preterits that used to fall from his 

 lips; and as for puns, the air was ])lue with them. 1 can not recall 

 one of them now, but the following example, from a letter of 1855 

 inviting Hooker to his wedding, will suffice to show the quality: "1 

 terminate my Baccalaureate and take my degree of M. A. ti-iniony 

 (isn't that atrocious?) on Saturday, July 21." 



One evening the conversation happened to touch upon the memor- 

 al)le nuirder of Dr. Parkman ])y Dr. Webster, and I expressed some 

 surprise that an expert chemist like We])ster should have been s.. slow 

 in getting his victim's remains out of the way. - Well," <iuoth Huxley, 

 "there's a o-ood deal of substance in a human l)ody. It isn t easy to 

 dispose of ,^ much corpus delicti-a retiection which has tnM|.,ent y 

 deterred me when on the pointof killing somebody." At su.-h reu.ark.s 

 a^.oft ripple of laughter would run about the room, wth nu.rmurs ot 

 "Oh Pater'" It was just the same in his lectures to ii:s stu<leni>. 

 In the simple old experiment illustrating reflex action a trog whose 

 brain had been removed, was touched upon the nght s.de ot the hack 

 with a slightly irritating acid, and would forthwith reach up w, h h s 

 right hind leg and rub the place. The next thmg u, order was o ^ 

 the rioht leg; whereupon the left leg would come up. and I n du,t ot 

 ulnuous eSirt reach the itching spot. One day the stret<-lung .a> 



