to a greater interest and responsibility than he usually assumes toward
his own mental equipment. Of greater interest probably will be the
subjects which deal with nature; for the ways of nature are more nearly
within the range of his real concerns than are the wherefores of study.
The story of the formation of a piece of chalk, the substance which lies
at the basis of all life, the habits of sea animals, are all subjects
the nature of which is akin to his own eager interest in the world.

Undoubtedly the subjects about which Huxley writes will "appeal" to
the student; but it is in analysis that the real discipline lies. For
analysis Huxley's essays are excellent. They illustrate "the clear power
of exposition," and such power is, as Huxley wrote to Tyndall, the one
quality the people want,--exposition "so clear that they may think they
understand even if they don't." Huxley obtains that perfect clearness
in his own work by simple definition, by keeping steadily before his
audience his intention, and by making plain throughout his lecture a
well-defined organic structure. No X-ray machine is needful to make the
skeleton visible; it stands forth with the parts all nicely related
and compactly joined. In reference to structure, his son and biographer
writes, "He loved to visualize his object clearly. The framework of
what he wished to say would always be drawn out first." Professor Ray
Lankester also mentions Huxley's love of form. "He deals with form not
only as a mechanical engineer IN PARTIBUS (Huxley's own description of
himself), but also as an artist, a born lover of form, a character which
others recognize in him though he does not himself set it down in his
analysis." Huxley's own account of his efforts to shape his work is
suggestive. "The fact is that I have a great love and respect for my
native tongue, and take great pains to use it properly. Sometimes I
write essays half-a-dozen times before I can get them into proper shape;
and I believe I become more fastidious as I grow older." And, indeed,