1882 DEATH OF CHAKLES DARWIN 315 



There was indeed a subtle affinity between the 

 two men. My mother, who was greatly attached to 

 Francis Balfour, said once to Sir M. Foster, " He has 

 not got the dash and verve, but otherwise he reminds 

 me curiously of what my husband was in his ' Rattle- 

 snake'days." " How strange," replied Sir Michael, 

 "when he first came to the front, Lankester wrote 

 asking me, ' Who is this man Balfour you are always 

 talking about?' and I answered, 'Well, I can only 

 describe him by saying he is a younger Huxley.' " 



Writing to Dr. Dohrn on September 24, Huxley 

 says : 



Heavy blows have fallen upon me this year in losing 

 Darwin and Balfour, the best of the old and the best of 

 the young. I am beginning to feel older than my age 

 myself, and if Balfour had lived I should have cleared 

 out of the way as soon as possible, feeling that the future 

 of Zoological Science in this country was very safe in his 

 hands. As it is, I am afraid I may still be of use for 

 some years, and shall be unable to sing my " Nunc 

 dimittis " with a good conscience. 



Darwin was in correspondence with him till quite 

 near the end ; having received the volume Science 

 and Culture, he wrote on January 12, 1882 : 



With, respect to automatism, 1 I wish that you could 

 review yourself in the old, and, of course, forgotten, 

 trenchant style, and then you would have [to] answer 

 yourself with equal incisiveness ; and thus, by Jove, you 

 might go on ad infinitum to the joy and instruction of 

 the world. 



1 The allusion is to the 1874 address on "Animals as Automata," 

 which was reprinted in Science and Culture. 



