200 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY cuAP. viii 



found the house which his father had occupied still 

 standing. 



A letter to an old pupil contains reflections upon 

 the years of work to which he had devoted so much 

 of his energies. 



To Professor T. Jeffery Parker, Otago 



HoDESLEA, Eastbourne, 

 Aug. 11, 1891. 



Mt dear Parker — -It is a long time since your letter 

 reached me, but I was so unwise as to put off answering 

 it until the book arrived and I had read it. The book 

 did not reach me for a long time, and what with one 

 thing and another I have but just finished it. I assure 

 you I am very proud of having my name connected with 

 such a thorough piece of work, no less than touched by 

 the kindness of the dedication. 



Looking back from the aged point of view, the life 

 which cost so much wear and tear in the living seems to 

 have effected very little, and it is cheering to be reminded 

 that one has been of some use. 



Some years of continued ill-health, involving constant 

 travelling about in search of better conditions than [ 

 London affords, and long periods of prostration, have 

 driven me quite out of touch with science. And indeed 

 except for a certain toughness of constitution I should 

 have been driven out of touch with terrestrial things 

 altogether. 



It is almost indecent in a man at my time of life who 

 has had two attacks of pleurisy, followed by a dilated 

 heart, to be not only above ground but fairly vigorous 

 again. However, I am obliged to mind my P's and Q'e ; 

 avoid everything like hard work, and live in good air. 



The last condition we have achieved by setting up a 



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