62 HUXLEY 



divine assistance. 1 . . . A. B. is the incarnation 

 of Gigadibs. I should call him Gigadihsius Optimus 

 Maximus? 



The second part was never published ; its incomple- 

 tion has curious parallel in the following extract from 

 a letter written by Huxley to Tyndall in 1854 : — 



The poor fellow vanished in the middle of an un- 

 finished article, which has appeared in the last West- 

 ?ninster, as his forlorn Vale ! to the world. After all, 

 that is the way to die, — better a thousand times than 

 drivelling off into eternity betwixt awake and asleep 

 in a fatuous old age. 3 



From March onwards old complications were ag- 

 gravated by influenza, and although he threw this off, 

 it left him weaker for the struggle, yet hopeful of the 

 issue. On the 26th June he wrote in cheerful tone 

 to his old friend Hooker; but on the afternoon of the 

 29th he passed away, " the Fates," as he had prayed, 

 leaving him "clear and vigorous mind" 4 to the end. 



It has become a fashion to more or less burden a 

 man's biography with tributes to his worth from his 

 friends. Such " appreciations," as these witnesses to 

 character are called, weaken rather than strengthen, 

 since their presence implies their possible necessity. 

 Of these credentials Huxley stands in no need. He 

 is his own witness in the work which he did, and in 



1 II. 4OO. «II. 430. »I. 121. *II. 361. 



