GEORGE JOHN ROMANES. 



ANOTHER of our not too numerous band of English 

 biological investigators has been taken from us in 

 the prime of life. The list is a heart-rending one, and its 

 full share of sadness surrounds the fate of this last dear 

 friend and companion. Garrod, Frank Balfour, Moselcy, 

 Herbert Carpenter, Milnes Marshall— all were younger ai 

 death than Romanes, and he only reached the age of 

 forty-six just three days before he died. For some two 

 years his friends have watched with anguish the progress 

 of the disease — a condition of the arteries resulting in 

 apoplexy — which has now ended his pain. Marvellous was 

 the activity of mind and the eagerness with which he 

 pursued his favourite discussions even to the day of his 

 death. Nothing, perhaps, more touching was ever wit- 

 nessed by those who knew and loved his kindly earnest 

 nature than the calm conviction with which he realised 

 that the hand of Death was laid on him, the pathetic 

 smile with which he would say, as he putied his cigarette, 

 " Of course my life is only hanging by a thread, and I 

 shall never be able to finish the experiments which would. 

 I think, convince you." 



George John Romanes was the son of the Rev. Prof. 

 Romanes, and was born in Kingston, Canada, on May 

 20, 1S48. He studied at Caius College, Cambridge, 

 took honours in the Natural Sciences Tripos (1870), and 

 was Burney Prize essayist in 1873. Having private 

 means, he determined to devote himself to the study of 

 psychology, which he proceeded to attack from two sides 

 — that of physiology, and that of the doctrine of evolu- 

 tion. He further equipped himself for his task by 

 mastering the teachings of modern writers on " philo- 

 sophy." To contribute to a knowledge of the evolution of 

 Mind was the ultimate aim of his numerous researches 

 and discussions. He was fortunate as a young man in 

 forming an intimate friendship with Mr. Darwin; and it 

 was his ambition not merely to carry the application of 

 Mr. Darwin's methods and principles into the great field 

 of mental evolution, but also to strengthen and, where 

 possible, supplement the Darwinian theory itself. Mr. 

 Darwin assisted Romanes in this enterprise by leaving to 

 him unpublished work of his own on " instinct " and 

 similar subjects. 



Romanes first became known to the larger public as a 

 gifted and capable exponent of scientific doctrine by the 

 lecture on "Animal Intelligence'' which he gave in 

 Dublin during the meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion in that city in 1878. He was subsequently 

 appointed Fullerian Prolessor in the Royal Insti- 

 tution, and gave numerous lectures both there and 

 at the London Institution. He contributed a series 

 of papers describing his researches on the nervous 

 system of the Medusae to the Philosophical Transaciio?is, 

 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society fifteen 

 years ago. His literary activity was very great, and re- 

 sulted in the publication of several large and well-known 

 books, as well as in numerous essays and short articles 

 of a controversial character published in the reviews and 

 in this journal. His chief books are "Animal Intelli- 

 gence,'' " Mental Evolution in Animals," " Mental 

 Evolution in Man," " Jelly-fish, Star-fish, and Sea- 

 urchins," " Darwin and after Darwin," and " An Examin- 

 ation of Weismannism.'' He had a keen love of public! 



