324 GEOEGE JOHN ROMANES 1893 



absence from England prevented me from getting 

 W.'s new book until now. But S. ought to have 

 known. 



March 22. 



I have written to Weismann telling him that 

 Bunting will send him a copy of the ' Cont. Beview.' * 



I have asked W. if he will give the Bomanes 

 Lecture some year. Love to you and the chicks. 

 You will have to tell me which is which of the boys. 



Unless he has already procured ordinary kittens, 

 tell John 2 to get them either Angora or Persian. 

 They will cost more, but will be much better. 



I had a long innings with the doctor to-day ; he 

 says I am perfectly sound ; believes my headaches 

 are all gastric. 



Your last letter just received is such a relief to 

 me. I was just Ernest's age when I nearly died of 

 whooping cough. 



This is the last letter of mine that you will be 

 able to answer I hope for years to come. Does this 

 not look like getting home ? I am now a coming 

 event. I have been busy with my answer to H. 

 Spencer. H. S. is singularly behindhand with his 

 information. In fact, it is melancholy to see how 

 he fails to appreciate the strength of Weismann's 

 position. He does not even understand it, and the 

 weakness of his criticism is such that he makes 

 matters worse for his own position with regard to the 

 inheritance of acquired characters — i.e. the foundation 

 of his entire system of synthetic philosophy. 



1 Contemporary, April 1892. 



2 His butler, an old and valued servant. 



