QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR STUDY 



Before taking up these questions let us read some of the 

 things that have been said about Huxley's writings. Do not 

 accept blindly the opinions of others but compare your own 

 impressions with theirs. If they say something that you had not 

 thought of, do not accept it or reject it until you have tested 

 it by a more careful reading of Huxley himself. Above all 

 do not be satisfied with mere words or phrases. Seek for 

 illustrations in Huxley's writings of every point made for or 

 against him. Mrs. Huxley, for example, edited a small volume 

 of selections from her husband's writings and prefaced it with 

 these words : " Some of the passages were picked out for 

 their philosophy, some for their moral guidance, some for 

 their scientific exposition of natural facts, or for their insight 

 into social questions; others for their charms of imagina- 

 tion or genial humor, and many not the least for their 

 beauty of lucid English writing." Can you illustrate each 

 of these points by sentences or paragraphs from the selections 

 that you have read? The attempt to do so would greatly in- 

 crease your appreciation of the distinctive excellences of Hux- 

 ley's writings. 



Huxley's scientific friend, E. Ray Lankester, wrote of him 

 as follows: "In Professor Huxley's work . . . we never miss 

 his fascinating presence ; now he is gravely shaking his head, 

 now compressing the lips with emphasis, and, from time to 

 time, with a quiet twinkle of the eye, making unexpected 

 apologies, or protesting that he is of a modest and peace- 

 loving nature. . . . Everything which has entered the au- 

 thor's brain by eye or ear . . . comes out again to us clarified, 

 sifted, arranged, and vivified by its passage through the logical 

 machine of his strong individuality." Can you find passages 

 that help you to visualize Huxley as Lankester has visualized 

 him? 



A writer in a leading American magazine criticised Huxley's 

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