174 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. VIII 



just look at that list, and remember that all these things 

 require strenuous attention and concentration of the 

 faculties, and leave one not very fit for anything else. 

 You will say that it is bad to be so entirely absorbed in 

 these things, and to that I heartily say Amen ! but you 

 might as well argue with a man who has just mounted 

 the favourite for the " Oaks " that it is a bad thing to 

 ride fast. He admits that, and is off like a shot when 

 the bell rings nevertheless. My bell has rung some time, 

 and thank God the winning post is in sight. 



Give my kindest regards to the doctor and special love 

 to all the children. I send a trifle for my godson and 

 some odds and ends in the book line, among other things 

 a Shakespeare for yourself, dear Liz. Believe me, ever 

 your affec. brother, T. H. HUXLEY. 



In December the Edinburgh chair was practically 

 offered to him undivided; but by that time the 

 London authorities thought they had better make it 

 worth his while to stay at Jermyn Street, and with 

 negotiations begun for this end he refused to stand 

 for Edinburgh. In the following spring, however, 

 he was again approached from Edinburgh not so 

 much to withdraw his refusal and again become a 

 candidate, as to let it be made known that he would 

 accept the chair if it were offered him. But his 

 position in London was now established ; and he pre- 

 ferred to live in London on a bare sufficiency rather 

 than to enjoy a larger income away from the centre 

 of things. 



Two letters to Tyndall, which refer to the division 

 of labour in the science reviews for the Westminster 



