ANIMALCULES. 301 



the officials as forming an actual part of the Modern 

 Athens. 



" It is not easy to resist your explanatory appeal, not 

 that I have any desire to resist it, but the reverse. At the 

 same time, I am not very free just at this time to under- 

 take new things till I have made further progress in others 

 to which I stand previously pledged. I have a great num- 

 ber of ' heavy wet/ yet sufficiently dry, articles to revise 

 for the new edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica. I 

 would rather write them anew, but the publishers are de- 

 sirous to preserve and take advantage of the old materials 

 as far as they can be made properly available. I am there- 

 fore treating them as gently as I can (one is apt to over- 

 look the faults of their own offspring), and shall satisfy my- 

 self by adding a supplement now and then. I have just 

 done so to the article Animalcule, and having approached 

 the subject from the Ehrenbergian or zoological side, I 

 have viewed many tribes as animals which the modern 

 botanists claim as plants. I must see what is thought of 

 the vexed question by Eobert Brown, with whom I am to- 

 dine to-day at Dr Greville's. But to keep to your points 

 of inquiry. Without pledging myself to very regular or 

 very frequent contributions, I have no objection to say that 

 I shall do my best to send you a short article now and 

 then. I suppose (and hope) that you mean them to be 

 anonymous. There would be no objection, of course, to a 



