296 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY cHAP. XII 



friend Tyndall, the last he ever wrote him, and 

 containing a cheery reference to the advance of old 

 age. 



HODESLEA, EaSTROURNE, 



May 9, 1893. 



My dear Jack — . . . M is better, and I am 



getting my voice back. But may St. Ernulplius' curse 

 descend on influenza microbes ! They tried to work their 

 way out at my nose, and converted me into a disreputable 

 Captain Costigan-looking person ten days ago. Now they 

 are working at my lips. 



For the credit of the family I hope I shall be more 

 reputable by the 18 th. 



I hope you will appreciate my dexterity. The lecture 

 is a regular egg-dance. That I should discourse on Ethics 

 to the University of Oxford and say all I want to say, 

 without a word anybody can quarrel with, is decidedly 

 the most piquant occurrence in my career. . . . — Ever 

 yours affectionately, Pater. 



To Professor Tyndall 



P.S. to he read first. 



Eastbouene, 31ay 15, 1893. 



Mt dear Tyndall — There are not many apples (and 

 those mostly of the crab sort) left upon the old tree, but I 

 send you the product of the last shaking. Please keep it 

 out of any hands but your wife's and yours tiU Thursday, 

 when I am to " stand and deliver " it, if I have voice 

 enough, which is doubtful. The sequelae of influenza in 

 my case have been mostly pimples and procrastination, 

 the former largely on my nose, so that I have been a 

 spectacle. Besides these, loss of voice. The pimples are 

 mostly gone and the procrastination is not much above 

 normal, but what will happen when I try to fill the 

 Sheldonian Theatre is very doubtful. 



