Thomas Henry Huxley an Ernst Haeckel, London, 10. Januar 1869
26 Abbey Place
St. John’s Wood, London
Jan. 10 1869
My dear Haeckel
You must not measure my gratitude for the kind recognition which the Medicinisch-physikalische Gesellschaft of Würzburg has shown me by the length of time I have taken to acknowledge it. I am quite scandalized to find that nearly a month has passed by since I received the diploma, the pleasure of receiving which was, I assure you, greatly enhanced by finding yours name· at the bottom of it.
But I have had two or three sets of Lectures beside other work going || on and I am sure you and the Society will forgive me. –
I forwarded your letter to the secretary of the Royal Society and took care to ask that the Transactions should be sent through Williams and Norgate hereafter. – Let' me know if this is not done.
I was very grieved to hear of Schleicher’s death – not only for the sake of philological· science but because I knew he was a great friend of yours.
Within this day or two, as you may have heard, Geology has had a great loss in D’Archiac and the circumstances of the case || are very painful. There seems to be no doubt that he has killed himself – unable to bear the annoyance of a pecuniary embarrassment, which after all seems to have been a very small matter. But I hear he was a very proud sensitive man.
Have you been lecturing in Berlin again? Thanks for the volume of „Vorlesungen“ of the previous year. I think it will be very useful in taking the general public into deeper regions than they have been able to reach through Vogt and me.
You will be amused to hear || that I went to the holy city, Edinburgh itself; the other day, for the purpose of giving the first of a series of Sunday Evening Lectures. I came back without being stoned but Murchison (who is a Scotchman you know) told me he thought it was the boldest act of my life. The lecture will be published in February and I shall send it to you – as it contains a criticism of Materialism which I should like you to consider.
I have been writing this in my best hand so that you may not be obliged to take it to Gegenbaur – to whom offer my best wishes. My wife and I join in the same to yourself.
Ever Yours faithfully
Th. H. Huxley
I inclose a formal acknowledgement of the diploma.
Did you send Kladderadatsch Almanack? I have had a good laugh over it.