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in that college. He graduated through the Natural Science Tripos 

 in 1870. After taking his degree he entered on the study of 

 medicine, and threw himself into the work of the hospital and dis- 

 secting room with great ardour ; but in 1872 he was completely dis- 

 abled by a severe and protracted illness, which led to his abandoning 

 his intention of entering the profession of medicine. The writer 

 became acquainted with him in the autumn of 1874. He had occu- 

 pied himself during the previous year in biological studies, and was 

 above all an ardent disciple of Mr. Darwin, with whom he had 

 already corresponded, and soon after came into personal relation. 

 For a couple of years Romanes was a worker in the Physiological 

 Laboratory at University College, London, and dated therefrom 

 (1876) his first contribution to the Royal Society. In the autumn of 

 the same year he began his physiological experiments on MedusaB 

 and sea urchins, and erected for the purpose a convenient marine 

 laboratory close to his house at Dunskaith, at the entrance of 

 Cromarty Firth, where he spent many happy autumns, engaged 

 partly in pursuit of game, partly in serious work. He first became 

 known to the general public in 1878, when he was invited to deliver 

 one of the evening lectures at the British Association at Dublin on 

 "Animal Intelligence," the substance of which took the form of a 

 book in 1881. This was followed by a volume on ' Mental Evolution in 

 Animals,' and, later, by ' Mental Evolution in Man.' He was admitted 

 to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1879. In 1885 he undertook 

 to deliver an academical course in Edinburgh, which comprised some 

 thirty lectures, and extended over three years. He was subsequently 

 (1888) appointed Fullerian Professor at the Royal Institution, and 

 brought together the substance of his London and Edinburgh lectures 

 in a treatise entitled ' Darwin and after Darwin.' His other works 

 will be referred to in the following paragraphs. 



Romanes died suddenly of cerebral hemorrhage on May 23, 1894. 

 Threatening symptoms of arterial disease had appeared in the 

 summer of 1892, which were followed by a formidable illness in July, 

 1893. After this he travelled to the south of France, returning to 

 Oxford, where he had resided since 1890, in the spring in much 

 improved health. Up to the end he preserved not only his mental 

 vigour, but the keenness of his interest in his scientific pursuits. 



It is proposed in the following paragraphs first, to give an account 

 of Romanes' physiological work, then of his contributions to what is 

 now understood by the term biology, and, finally, to refer very 

 briefly to his psychological writings. 



The subject of his first communication to the Royal Society (May, 

 1876) was "The Influence of Injury on the Excitability of Motor 

 Nerves." Of this paper, it is sufficient to say that the observations 



