4 Marlborough Place, February 24, 1873.

My dear Dohrn,

I was very glad to receive the fine sealed letter, and to get some news of you—­though to be sure there is not much of you in the letter, but all is “Station, Station.”

I congratulate you heartily on your success with your undertaking, and I only wish I could see England represented among the applicants for tables.  But you see England is so poor, and the present price of coals obliges her to economise.

I envy you your visit from “Pater Anchises” Baer, and rejoice to hear that the grand old man is well and strong enough to entertain such a project.  I wish I could see my way to doing the like.  I have had a long bout of illness—­ever since August—­but I am now very much better, indeed, I hope I may say quite well.  The weariness of all this has been complicated by the trouble of getting into a new house, and in addition a lawsuit brought by a knavish neighbour, in the hope of extracting money out of me.

I am happy to say, however, that he has just been thoroughly and effectually defeated.  It has been a new experience for me, and I hope it may be my last as well as my first acquaintance with English law, which is a luxury of the most expensive character.

If Dr. Kleinenberg is with you, please to tell him, with my compliments and thanks for the copy of his Memoir, that I went over his Hydra paper pretty carefully in the summer, and satisfied myself as to the correctness of his statements about the structure of the ectoderm and about the longitudinal fibres.  About the Endoderm I am not so clear, and I often found indications of delicate circular fibres in close apposition with the longitudinal ones.  However, I had not time to work all this out, and perhaps might as well say nothing about it.

Pray make my very kind remembrances to Mr. Grant.  I trust that his dramas may have a brilliant reception.

The Happy Family flourishes.  But we shall look to your coming to see us.  The house is big enough now to give you a bedroom, and you know you will have no lack of welcome.

I have said nothing about my wife (who has been in a state not only of superhuman, but of superfeminine, activity for the last three months) meaning to leave her the last page to speak for herself.

With best compliments to the “ladies downstairs,” ever yours very faithfully,

T.H.  Huxley.

4 Marlborough Place, October 17, 1873.

My dear Dohrn,

Your letter reached me nearly a week ago, and I have been turning over its contents in my mind as well as I could, but have been able to come to no clear conclusion until now.  I have been incessantly occupied with other things.