302 THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN REASON. 



we have criticized, hardly, as he himself admits, demands 

 or can well receive a grave and serious examination, 

 and our brief criticism of it is, we think, amply sufficient 

 for the purpose of this work. 



We desire, finally, to take leave of Mr. Romanes 

 with gratitude and sympathy : gratitude for his honest 

 labour, the pains he has taken, and his studious en- 

 deavour to be just and fair to us personally. We 

 take leave of him with sympathy, for we cannot 

 regard otherwise than with kindly regret the thank- 

 less, the impossible, task he has gratuitously taken 

 upon himself, and which has wasted so many well- 

 meant efforts. Heartily do we wish that he would 

 consent for a time to put physical science on one side, 

 and devote his very considerable energy and ability to 

 the study of science properly so-called. Would he only 

 consent so to do, we feel a strong conviction that un- 

 mixed good to himself and others would be the by no 

 means distant result. We are persuaded that a patient 

 study of philosophy would, in a mind so candid and 

 open to conviction as we believe his to be, lead to a 

 permanent reconciliation between the author of " Mental 

 Evolution in Man "and the thesis he at present opposes, 

 as well as to a prolific union between the declarations 

 of objective Reason and the subjective psychological 

 conceptions of Mr. Romanes himself. We have selected 

 his work for careful examination because in it may be 

 found an exposition of all the most recent hypotheses 

 in favour of the evolution of intellect from mere 

 sentience. In examining it, we have examined these 



