SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



97 



GEORGE JOHN ROMANES, LL.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



DOKN at Kingston, Canada, May 20th, 1 --, 

 George John Romanes died suddenly, though 

 not unexpectedly, at Oxford, on the 23rd of May, 

 1S94, in his forty-sixth year. For some time 

 past his health has been far from satisfactory, 

 and none knew better than himself that his work 

 might terminate abruptly at any moment ; apoplexy 

 being the final result of much patient suffering. 



The son of the Rev. Prof. Romanes, he whom 

 we have so re- 

 cently lost was of 

 Scotch extraction 

 In 1S70 he took 

 honours in the 

 Natural Sciences 

 Tripos, having 

 studied at Cairns 

 College, Cam- 

 bridge. He was 

 Burney Prize 

 Essayist in 1S73. 

 A protege of the 

 late Charles 

 Darwin, whose 

 interest in Ro- 

 manes ripened 

 into friendship, 

 he commenced 

 his scientific 

 career with much 

 promise, which 

 time has proved 

 to have been j usti- 

 fied. Naturally, 

 under such aus- 

 pices, he became 

 a firm adherent 

 to the teachings 

 of his master, and 

 few have been 



Photo by] 



George John Romanes 

 reat cause of 



fifteen years ago, his election as a Fellow of the 

 Royal Society, was his investigation of some 

 marine animals, especially the nervous system 

 of the Medusae. 



Fortunately for Professor G. J. Romanes, his 

 financial resources were always ample for his 

 requirements, and latterly considerable in amount. 

 This enabled him to devote his whole mind to 

 such investigations as he may have had in hand. 



He was thus 

 never a sufferer 

 from the blight- 

 ing distractions 

 of accompanying 

 devices for pro- 

 viding daily ways 

 and means, which 

 have ruined many 

 a scientific future 

 for men who 

 might otherwise 

 ha vebecome lead - 

 ers among men 



Among his 

 more important 

 works may be 

 mentioned " Ani- 

 mal Intelli- 

 gence," "Mental 

 Evolution in 

 Animals," " Men- 

 tal Evolution in 

 Man," "Jellyfish. 

 Starfish and Sea- 

 urchins," " Dar- 

 win and after 

 Darwin," and 

 "An Examina- 

 tion of Weis- 

 mannism.*' 



[Maull 



more successful in furthering the 

 our greatest modern philosopher. 



Among the many lectures given by Romanes in 

 after life, perhaps none excelled one of his earliest, 

 which was an address on "Animal Intelligence" 

 given before the British Association at Dublin in 

 1878. That probably secured for him the appoint- 

 ment of Fullerian Professorin the Royal Institution, 

 London. The actual work which first brought 

 him into public prominence, and doubtless caused, 



His latter years have been spent at work in the 

 physiological laboratory at Oxford, with the excep- 

 tion of occasional changes for health's sake Last 

 winter he dwelt at Hyeres in the south of France, 

 from which place he wrote us his congratulations 

 and offers of support in reviving the fortunes of 

 this magazine. Professor G. J. Romanes leaves 

 behind, as a remembrance of his love for biology, 

 a lectureship at Oxford, which was founded by him 

 a little time a?o, and bears his name. 



