158 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. VI 



at South Kensington on Biology, Chemistry, Geology, 

 etc., he did so with the special proviso that there be 

 no vivisection experiments in any of the courses, and 

 further, appended a Memorandum, explaining the 

 reasons on which he acted. 



Now, although Huxley was mentioned by name 

 as having taken care to avoid inflicting pain in 

 certain previous experiments which had coine to 

 Mr. Forster's knowledge, the memorandum evoked 

 from him a strong protest to the Lord President, to 

 whom, as Mr. Forster expressly intimated, an appeal 

 might properly be made. 



To begin with, the memorandum contained a 

 mistake in fact, referring to his regular course at 

 South Kensington experiments which had taken 

 place two years before at one of the Courses to 

 Teachers. This course was non- official ; Huxley's 

 position in it was simply that of a private person to 

 whom the Department offered a contract, subject to 

 official control and criticism, so far as touched that 

 course, and entirely apart from his regular position 

 at the School of Mines. The experiments of 1872 

 were performed, as he had reason to believe, with 

 the full sanction of the Department. If the Board 

 chose to go back upon what had happened two years 

 before, he was of course subject to their criticism, 

 but then he ought in justice to be allowed to 

 explain in what these experiments really consisted. 

 What they were appears from a note to Sir J. 

 Donnelly : 



