1890 PYSCHOLOGICAL WOEK 201 



the work of a scientific observer, and very different 

 from the chance tales of a mere anecdotist. 



The whole subject of comparative psychology had 

 a special and peculiar fascination for Mr. Romanes, 

 partly on account of its intimate connection with the 

 theory of evolution, and partly from its bearing on 

 those deeper philosophic problems which were never 

 long absent from his thoughts. His treatment of 

 the phenomena of instinct in ' Mental Evolution in 

 Animals,' and elsewhere, was both comprehensive 

 and exact, and still forms, in the opinion of com- 

 petent authorities, the best general account of the 

 subject that we have ; though, had he lived to review 

 and consolidate his work, some changes would probably 

 have been introduced in view of later discussions 

 on the nature and method of hereditary transmission. 

 His arguments in ' Mental Evolution in Man,' in 

 support of the essential similarity of the reasoning 

 processes in the higher animals and in man, created 

 a stir, at the time of their publication, which was in 

 itself evidence that his critics felt that they had a 

 writer and thinker that must be seriously and 

 sharply met. He hoped by this work to win over 

 the psychologists to the evolution camp; and he 

 himself felt strongly that in some cases, when he 

 failed fully to convince them of the adequacy of his 

 method of treatment and of the arguments he 

 adduced, it was rather in matters of definition than 

 in matters of fact that the source of their differences 

 lay. He was somewhat disappointed that his terms 

 1 recept ' and ( receptual ' for mental products inter- 

 mediate between the i percept ' and the ' concept ' 

 were not more generally accepted by psychologists, 

 since, in his matured opinion, they and the conception 

 they represent were eminently helpful in bridging 



