12 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY chap, i 



4. To prepare for the Matriculation Examination at 



London University which requires knowledge of :— 

 (o) Algebra— Geometry ) did not begin to read for 



(b) Natural Philosophy \ this till April. 



(c) Chemistry. 



(d) Greek — Latin. 



(e) EngUsh History down to end of seventeenth 



century. 

 ( /) Ancient History. 

 English Grammar. 



5. To make copious notes of all things I read. 



Projects completed — 



I. Partly. 2. Not at all. 3 and 5, stuck to these pretty 



closely. 

 4. (e) Read as far as Henry HI. in Hume, 

 (o) Evolution and involution. 



(b) Refraction of light — Polarisation partly. 



(c) Laws of combination — must read them over 



again. 



(d) Nothing. 

 (/) Nothing. 



I must get on faster than this. I must adopt a fixed plan of 

 studies, for unless this is done I find time slips away without 

 knowing it — and let me remember this — that it is better to read 

 a little and thoroughly, than cram a crude undigested mass into 

 my head, though it be great in quantity. 



(This is about the only resolution I have ever stuck to — 



1845)- 



[Well do I remember how in that little narrow surgery I 

 used to work morning after morning and evening after evening 

 at that insufferably dry and profitless book, Hume's History, 

 how I worked against hope through the series of thefts, rob- 

 beries, and throat-cutting in those three first volumes, and how 

 at length I gave up the task in utter disgust and despair. 



Macintosh's History, on the other hand, I remember reading 

 with great pleasure, and also Guizot's Civilisation in Europe, the 

 scientific theoretical form of the latter especially pleased me, but 

 the want of sufficient knowledge to test his conclusions was a 

 great drawback. 1845]. 



There follow notes of work done in successive weeks — 

 June 20 to August 9, and September 27 to October 4. 



