1875 HIS ' ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION IN BIOLOGY ' 87 



Prof. Jeffery Parker. In the first edition, the lower 

 forms of life were first dealt with ; from simple cells 

 amoeba, yeast-plant, blood-corpuscle the student 

 was taken through an ascending series of plants 

 and of animals, ending with the frog or rabbit. 

 But "the experience of the Lecture -room and the 

 Laboratory taught me," writes Huxley in the new 

 preface, " that philosophical as it might be in theory, 

 it had defects in practice." The process might be 

 regarded as not following the scientific rule of pro- 

 ceeding from the known to the unknown ; while the 

 small and simple organisms required a skill in hand- 

 ling high-power microscopes which was difficult for 

 beginners to acquire. Hence the course was reversed, 

 and began with the more familiar type of the rabbit 

 or frog. This was Eolleston's practice ; but it may 

 be noted that Professor Eay Lankester has always 

 maintained and further developed "the original 

 Huxleian plan of beginning with the same micro- 

 scopic forms " as being a most important philosophic 

 improvement on Rolleiton's plan, and giving, he 

 considers, " the truer ' twist,' as it were, to a student's 

 mind." 



When the book was sent to Darwin, he wrote 

 back (November 12, 1875) : 



MY DEAR HUXLEY Many thanks for your biology, 

 which I have read. It was a real stroke of genius to 

 think of such a plan. Lord, how I wish that I had 

 gone through such a course. Ever yours, 



C. DARWIN. 



